Elbridge Ayer Burbank
(1858-1949)
Son of Harvard, Illinois

Updated 19 May 2006

A Chronology

Date Source (if available), Title: information
1858/08/10 Born, Harvard, IL to Abner Jewett & Anna Maria (Ayer) Burbank (No birth records located)
1860/07/13 1860 US Census: Harvard, IL: "Age 1"
1863/08/17 Brother Henry Clay Burbank born
1865/04/15 Sister Lillian M. Burbank born
1865/09/07 McHenry County, IL Marriage License: Burbank's maternal uncle Edward Everett Ayer married his paternal aunt Emma Augusta Burbank
1869/03/01 Paternal grandmother "Susan Elizabeth Rice Badger" dies
1870/07/09 1870 US Census, Harvard, IL: "Age 12, Attending School" parents, brother, sister
1874/01/19 Harvard Independent (4 Feb 1874): Paternal grandfather "Abner Burbank" dies.
1874/05/06 Harvard Independent: "El'dge" listed as student - 85
1874/06/03 Harvard Independent: "El'dge" listed as student - 83
1874 Began studies at Academy of Design in Chicago
1875/01/06 Harvard Independent: Elbridge no longer listed as student, brother Henry is.
1875/05/19 Harvard Independent: returned from Chicago ... past six months ... lessons ... sketching ...
1876/08/02 Harvard Independent: Burbank's father "A. J." finished a 16 ft. sailboat at Lake Geneva, WI
1880/05 Rockford Register: "About 10 o'clock Monday morning, Mr. E. A. Burbank and W. A. Wickersham, two of Medlar's artists..." Both in a boat "they have been rigging themselves" - boat sinks - both swim for shore - W.A. drowns in spite of Burbank's efforts to save him.
1880/06/12 1870 US Census: Rockford, IL - "Alice B. Wheeler, age 16, at school, IL/NY/Wales"
1880/06/16 1870 US Census: Rockford, IL - "Eldrid Burbank, age 21, boarder, Artist..."
1880/11/04 Winnebago County, IL Marriage License (Rockford): Burbank marries Alice Blanche Wheeler
1880/11/05 Rockford Daily Gazette & Rockford Register & 10 Nov Rockford Gazette: Lives in Auburn, NY both before and after the wedding - married in West parlor of the Wheeler home on East State St. (now demolished)
1880s Northwest Illustrated Monthly: sketching towns along the Northern Pacific RR
1882 1882 Auburn, NY City Directory: "Burbank, F.A., artist, bds 175 Genesee"
1883 1883 Auburn, NY City Directory: "Burbank Elbridge A., (Burbank & Thorne,) h 175 Genesee Burbank & Thorne, (E.A. Burbank and W Thorne,) portraits, studio 21 Seward Block"
1883/08/03 Harvard Independent: "... and wife who been residing at Auburn, N.Y., for two years past ... visit ... before leaving for St Paul, MN ... open a studio (8/04/1910 "Some Ancient History")
1883/09/23 Harvard Independent: Mr. and Mrs. ... of St. Paul, MN, visited Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Burbank
1884/85 St. Paul, MN
1885 History of McHenry County: Elbridge A., born Sept 10, 1859, is a portrait painter in St. Paul, MN.
1886 Spokane, WA
1886 To Germany - Student, Munich - Paul Navin and Frederick Fehr
1887/04/13 McHenry County Register of Deaths: Maternal grandfather "Elbridge Gerry Ayer" dies
1887 Rockford Art Museum: Sept, Oct, Nov - Sketches in Munich Sketchbook
1888/01/05 Harvard Independent: "Mrs. Eldridge (sic) Burband (sic) and sister of Rockford, were among the many from abroad who attended the dance Monday night."
1888/10/26 Harvard Herald (Oct, 1908), 20 Years Ago: E. A. Burbank promotes debate club, Harvard YMCA [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1888/10/26 (not sure which paper): Mrs. Elbridge Burbank, of Rockford ... visited ... this week
1889/01/05 (not sure which paper): E. A. Burbank posts notice to settle accounts owed to him [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/01/19 Harvard Independent: Burbank's father "A. J." finished a 6' by 8' oil painting for the Congregational Church
1889/04/06 Harvard Independent: E. A. Burbank listed as a Harvard Trustee [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/05/11 Harvard Independent: E. A. Burbank listed as Past Chief Templar, I.O.G.T., Temperance Hall [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/06/08 Harvard Independent: E. A. Burbank chosen for "circulating subscription paper", Harvard Congregational Church [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/07/13 Harvard Independent: E. A. Burbank listed on the committees of the YMCA - "Rooms, library and Printing" and "Reception" - his father "A. J." is listed on "Lecture and Entertainment" [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/07/20 Harvard Independent: "YMCA - E. A. Burbank takes the place of James Lake, resigned." [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/07/27 Harvard Independent: "Elbridge A. Burbank and wife, St Paul, MN were visiting his parent, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Burbank, in Harvard for a few weeks. They will start for Europe next month, where Mr. Burbank will pursue his studies in the art of painting, in which he has already developed superior taste and skill." [Note: see also Harvard Independent, Some Ancient History, July 29, 1909]
1889/07 Rockford Art Museum, Photograph Collection: Photograph of E. G. Ayer's grave, Auburn Cemetery, Harvard, IL
1889/07/28 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Diary: "Tottie and I went to Geneva Lake, Wis."
1889/08 Rockford Art Museum, Photograph Collection: Photograph of Bigfoot Prairie, WI
1889/08/04 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Diary: "Tottie and I went to Geneva Lake, Wis."
1889/08/27 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Diary: "Tottie and I left Chicago for New York on Baltimore & Ohio R.R. at 10:10 A.M."
1889/08/28 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Diary: We arrived in Washington D.C. went sight seeing stopped at St. James Hotel saw all of the government buildings went to the top of Washington's monument 500 feet"
1889/08/29 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Diary: "We left Washington D.C. 8 A.M. on fast train for New York. Arrived in N.Y. 1:45 P.M. stopped at Miller's Hotel"
1889/08/31 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Diary: "Left New York on steamer Fulda North German Lloyd Line at 9 A.M. [Note: Ship information from the Internet: Fulda (first) 1883 - 1899, 4,819 tons]
1889/11/30 Harvard Independent: "... in the grocery store of E. A. Burbank ..." [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1889/12/27 Harvard Independent: "... a temperance drama ... Participating in the four-act play were ... E. A. Burbank ..." [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1890/02/18 Harvard Independent: "Lillie [Note: Elbridge's sister] was married to ??? [Note: Francis Willis Young] at Harvard, Ills U.S.A."
also, IL State Board of Health, Marriage License, and 22 Feb 1940 newspaper article "...50 Years Ago"
1890/06 Rockford Art Museum, Munich Sketchbook: Sketch - Oberammergau, Germany
1890/07/11 Harvard Herald, 20 Years Ago (14 Jul 1910) - Y.M.C.A Directors - E. A. Burbank [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin]
1890/07/26 Susan Marie Sullivan, Many Brushes: Elbridge Ayer Burbank, Painter of Indian Portraits: "Letter of Burbank to his family dated July 26, 1890. In writing home he mentioned that he thought it was rather "queer" that they did not get his account of having gone to see the play. [Note: the "Passion Play" at Oberammergau]
1890/08/22 Harvard Herald, 20 Years Ago (25 Aug 1910) - "E. A. Burbank was on a pleasure trip to the east." [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin] & "Invitations ... wedding of Miss Lizzie Burbank Ayer and Dr. Frank Johnson ... Sept. 3 ..." [Note: Elizabeth is Uncle Edward Ayer's only daughter]
1890/10 Susan Marie Sullivan, Many Brushes: Elbridge Ayer Burbank, Painter of Indian Portraits: "Letter from Burbank to his family dated October 29, 1890 from Cardiff , Wales"
1890/12/29 Harvard Herald: "Frank Young is one of the happiest men in Harvard ..." [Note birth announcement for Burbank's niece Madelon Martine Young]
1891 Aug, Sept - Rockford Art Museum, Munich Sketchbook: Sketches
1891 Wales Census - 37 Oakfield St., Cardiff County, Roath Ward - "Portrait painter"
1892 Rockford Art Museum, Photograph Collection: Photograph of Mrs. Burbank's mother's home in Wales
1892 Melissa Wolfe, American Indian Portraits: Opened Chicago studio
1892/07/31 Chicago Tribune: "...has been studying in Munich and Paris of late..."
1892/12/11 Chicago Tribune: "...shows two closely studied works in oil..."
1893 Melissa Wolfe, American Indian Portraits: Awarded Yerkes Prize for "His Favorite Pastime"
1893/12/08 Harvard Herald, Personal Mention: "returned from Boston...reside in Chicago" [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin, shown in the 1900 census as living in Chicago]
1895/01/21 Chicago Tribune: "The Cosmopolitan Club Exhibit...E. A. Burbank..."
1895/03/12 McHenry County Register of Deaths & Harvard Herald (15 Mar 1895) : Maternal grandmother "Mary Dean Titcomb" dies, mother of uncle Edward Ayer
1895 Atlanta Exposition - medals and honorable mention
1895/03/22 Chicago Evening Post: "...careful pencil sketches...Munich, the Bavarian Alps...church towers... stoves...charm of Europe..." (see Munich sketch book)
1895/08 Susan Marie Sullivan, Many Brushes: Elbridge Ayer Burbank, Painter of Indian Portraits: "American Beauty" ... print in 8 x 11 inch size in the "Chicago Chronicle Supplement"
1895/11 The Arts: "...spent his summer ...Mississippi and Virginia..."
1896/03/12 Harvard Independent: "E. A. Burbank, the well known Chicago artist, who has been spending the winter in CA, has returned home. He is a son of A. J. Burbank, of Harvard"
1896/06/28 Chicago Tribune: "... nearly completed...pictures...statue of Abraham Lincoln...park..."
1896/08/02 Chicago Tribune: "...vacation at Harvard, IL... remain the rest of the summer."
1897 Commissioned to paint Geronimo by his uncle Edward Ayer (born Kenosha, raised Harvard)
1897/03 The Border, Nov. 1908, "Geronimo the Chief of the Apaches": Burbank departs for OK, being commissioned to paint Geronimo by his uncle Edward Ayer (born Kenosha, raised Harvard)
1897/03/12 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Ft. Sill, OK Territory: "I arrived here this forenoon ... I said How do you do Chief Geronimo..."
1897/03/14 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Ft. Sill, OK Territory: "I will start Geronimo's portrait tomorrow ... I made a sketch today of a fence ad gate made by the Appache Indians which is interesting ..."
1897/03/21 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Ft. Sill, OK Territory: "I finished with Chief geronimo today ... I have painted two fine likenesses of him one with a full front view and the other a profile... Today I started Gi-aum-e Hon-o-me-tah..."
1897/04/18 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Ft. Sill, OK Territory: "I will be in Chicago June 1st ... working on my 15th picture which is a Comanche Indian named Bon-e-ta with a genuine war bonnet... the next Indian am to paint "Hawgone" ..."
1897/06/02 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from 26 E. Van Buren St, Room 800, Chicago: "I have got all the Indian pictures at your house framed ... an exhibition of the 19 pictures at Thurbers commencing Monday..."
1897/06/06 Chicago Inter-Ocean: "...has returned from Ft. Sill, OK...within a few days he will leave for the Northwest ... to secure a portrait of Chief Joseph..."
1897/06/19 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Ft. Yates, ND: "Arrived here all right last eve tok the stage out of Bismark ... cross the Missouri River by ferry..."
1897/06/28 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Rock Creek, SD: "I arrived here last eve..."
1897/07/02 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Crow Agency, MT: "... got here today via Billings..."
1897/07/07 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from St. Xavier, MT: "I got here today..."
1897/09/08 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Nes Pilem, WA: "I left Billings Sunday night and have been on the go ever since and arrived here this noon..."
1897/09/26 Chicago Tribune: "A letter from E. A. Burbank from Spokane Wash..."
1897/10/03 Chicago Inter-Ocean: "On Oct. 15 Thurber's art gallery ... forty-five pictures of Indians..."
1898/07/20 The Border, Nov. 1908, "Geronimo the Chief of the Apaches": Ft. Sill, Oklahoma Territory - paints Geronimo a second time
1898 Melissa Wolfe, American Indian Portraits: Closed Chicago studio, sold all
1898/05/10 Harvard Herald (6 May 1898): "H. A. Burbank (Note: see next entry) writes to have his Herald changed from Phoenix, Arizona, to Flagstaff..."
1898/05/26 Harvard Herald (3 June 1898): Elbridge's 1st cousin, Herbert A. Burbank dies near Pasadena, CA, interred Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Harvard, IL on 2 June. E. A.'s brother, Henry C. Burbank, was a pal-bearer and Uncle Edward Ayer attended. No mention of Elbridge.
1899/01/12 Harvard Independent (January 19, 1899): "E. E. Ayer Resigns as Chief" (as president of the Field Museum)
1899/02/09 Harvard Independent: "February ... Brush & Pencil ... Burbank collection ... Wick-Ah-Te-Wah..."
1899/07/27 Harvard Independent: Burbank visiting his parents ... start for Europe next month ... studies
1900 /10 NewspaperArchives.com, Kansas City Star (1901-05-26), The Indians His Model: "... well on his way to a year's continuous residence in Oklahoma. He came last October for the fourth time ..."
1900 Exhibited Paris Exposition
1900/07/26 Harvard Independent (7/28/1910 - "Some Ancient History"): "E. A. Burbank, the well known artist, was a guest of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Burbank"
1901/07/18 Harvard Herald, Personal Matters: "Mr. and Mrs. Elbridge Burbank of Chicago were the guests of his parents ... this week"
1901/08/15 Harvard Herald, Personal Matters: "A. J. Burbank, accompanied by his granddaughter, Madelon Young, visited with relatives in Chicago... this week"
1901/10/07 Harvard Herald (1901/10/10), Personal Matters: "E. G. (sic) Burbank returned to Chicago Monday noon after a visit with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Burbank ..."
1901/10/19 Chicago Post: "... about to open his sixth exhibition of Indian portraits at Thurber's..."
1901/10/27 NewspaperArchives.com, Daily Review (Decator, IL), Burbank's Real American Reds: "... is on exhibition at the Thurber galleries on Wabash Avenue..."
1901/12 Harvard Herald (1902/01/02), Personal Matters: "E. A. Burbank of Chicago was in Harvard a few days last week..."
1902 Visited Joseph G. Butler, Jr. - sold 118 portraits (Butler Institute of American Art)
1902/04/10 Melissa Wolfe, American Indian Portraits: Pennoyer Sanitarium (photo), Kenosha, WI
1902 Rosebud, SD
1903/01/10 Chicago Post: "Mr. Thurber has just received a dozen or more Indian studies...Rosebud agency, South Dakota..."
1903 SD/CA
1904 Lived in Polacca, AZ
1904/05/28 Chicago Post: "...Yuma, Arizona ...on exhibition...Thurber..."
1905 AZ/CA
1905/06/15 NewspaperArchives.com, Arizona Republican (Phoenix), Indian Portrait Painter: "... had been stopping at the Agua Callente hot springs arrived in the city yesterday morning accompanying Ed Rupert who spent a couple of weeks at the springs ... He is now taking a vacation of about eight weeks..."
1906 CA/OR/NV
1906/03/21 NewspaperArchives.com, Reno - Nevada State Journal, E. A. Burbank, Famed for His Paintings of American Indians...: "... Mr. Burbank is at present sojourning in Carson ..."
1906/04/01 NewspaperArchives.com, Reno - Nevada State Journal, Noted Artist is in Reno: "E. A. Burbank ... is sojourning in this city for a few days..."
1906/07/02 NewspaperArchives.com, California - Oakland Tribune, Hotel Arrivals: "Arlington ... E. A. Burbank, Chicago"
1907 Walpi, Arizona to paint Snake Dance for Smithsonian
1907/02/23 NewspaperArchives.com, Phoenix - Arizona Republican, 1907-02-24, Personal Mention: E. A. Burbank of Chicago a guest at the Ford Hotel yesterday
1907/09/13 L. A. Times: "...three months among the Hopi...returned to Los Angeles only the other day...fourteen studies in oil..."
1907/09 Kanst Gallery exhibit
1907 AZ/NM
1908/03/07 Harvard Herald (1908/03/12), Personal Mention: "E. A. Burbank arrived home last Saturday evening from a month's stay in Texas and Oklahoma"
1908/Easter Harvard Herald (1908/03/12), Personal Mention: "Mr. and Mrs. Henry Burbank were out from Chicago to spend Easter with his parents and other relatives"
1908/06/05 Susan Marie Sullivan, Many Brushes: Elbridge Ayer Burbank, Painter of Indian Portraits: "... his wife Blanche, "The Belle of Rockford", was granted an "interlocutory divorce" on the grounds of desertion ..."
1909 CA/NM/CO
1909/06/10 Melissa Wolfe, American Indian Portraits: Marries 22 yr old Nettie Tabor in LA, CA [Note: Nettie B. Kalblinger was her maiden name, she had been previously married and was 30 years younger than Burbank]
1910/04/23 1910 U.S. Census, Hubbell Trading Post, Navajo Indian Reservation, Apache, AZ - age 51 (with Nettie)
1910/09/29 Harvard Herald, Personal Mention: "... E. A. Burbank ... automobile trip to county fair ..." [Note: there is also an "Edgar A. "E. A." Burbank in Harvard, Elbridge's 1st cousin, shown in the 1910 census as living in Harvard]
1910/10/13 Harvard Independent: "Additional evidence of the inherent genius of E. A. Burbank, famous painter and portrayer of Indian types has been secured by Dr. C. M. Johnson ... has made an oil painting which now hangs in the doctor's office at the new Cottage Hospital ... two-wheeled sulky ... quaint picket fence ..."
1910/10/15 Chicago Post: "...exhibition of twenty oil paintings... adjoining gallery..." (Marshall Field)
1910/11/17 1910/11/24 1910/12/01 1910/12/08 1910/12/15 Harvard Independent: Famous War Chiefs I Have Known and Painted re-printed fromThe Graphic Chief Blue Horse; Chief Black Coyote; Indian Children ...; Gi-aum-e Hone-o-me-tah; Famous Snake Chief Ko-pe-ley
1911/02/09 Harvard Herald, Personal Mention: "E. A. Burbank, after a visit of several weeks with relatives at Kenosha, Wis., has returned to his home in this city." [Note: A Pennoyer Sanitarium visit, or his cousin?]
1911/02/16 Harvard Herald, Personal Mention: "Mrs. Elbridge Burbank and Miss Margie Burghardt were Chicago visitors last Friday" And "E. A. Burbank arrived home last Thursday evening from an extended visit with relatives at Kenosha, Wis., and in Chicago."
1911/03/30 Harvard Herald: "Burbank and Smith Trade Properties - A. J. Burbank ...part with the home they have occupied for forty-five years ..."
1912/06/25 Harvard Herald: "Elbridge ... in this city" His father - Abner Jewett Burbank dies Also McHenry County Certificate and Record of Death
1912/07/18 Harvard Herald, Unique Entertainment: "Indian blankets ... loaned ... by E. A. Burbank"
1912/08/15 Harvard Herald, Personal Mention: "Mrs. E. A. Burbank departed last Thursday for the home of her parents at Valentine, Neb."
1912/10/3 Harvard Herald, Personal Mention: "Elbridge A. Burbank left here on Monday for ... Los Angeles Cal. To pass the fall and winter. He was joined at Kansas City, Mo., by Mrs. Burbank, who has been visiting her parents at Valentine, Neb."
1913/01/30 Harvard Independent: Opens Studio in Los Angeles [from LA express] full article
1914/06/21 Stigler, OK
1914/07/14 Ayer Collection, Newberry Library: Burbank letter to Edward Ayer from Redburn Hotel, Tahlequah, K: "I am now at the above place for the Cherokee Indians ... I will go from here to Muskogee OK as I hear there are creek Indians there ... my mother and Lillie are looking forward to going to the Lake they start in a few days." (Lake Geneva, WI??)
1915/09 Harvard Herald, Married 50 Years Ago, Edward Ayer's Golden Anniversary
1917/01/04 LA Times: "... Mrs. Nettie B. Burbank Secures Divorce ... yesterday ..."
1917/05/24 Admitted: Napa State Hospital, Imola, CA
1920 1920 U. S. Census, Napa, CA: Inmate Napa State Hospital "Edward A." (Age "60")
1928 Copy of Lincoln portrait made for Dr. George W. Ogden, Napa State Hospital
1930/04/05 1930 U. S. Census, Napa, CA: Inmate Napa State Hospital "Edward A." (Age "61")
Lives in Imola, CA
1932/01/18 Harvard Herald, Jan 21 & 28, 1932, Mother "Anna Maria Ayer" dies, Elbridge does not attend funeral
1934/04/09 Leave of absence: Napa State Hospital, Imola, CA
1934/10/05 Mailed "A Life-saving Dog" postcard from San Francisco to grand-niece Emma in OK
1935/09/20 State of Illinois Certificate of Death - Henry C. Burbank [Note: Elbridge's brother] and Harvard Herald (1935/09/26)
1935/09/26 Harvard Herald, Edgar A. Burbank died in CA, railroad, grocery business, and painter - never married [Note: Elbridge's cousin - the other "E. A. Burbank"]
1936 Discharged: Napa State Hospital, Imola, CA
1937/08/28 Burbank mails postcard from San Francisco to Harvard Library and Harvard Herald, "Mrs. Frank Young Dies ..." [Note: Elbridge's sister]
1946/07/05 Postcard from Manx Hotel, S.F. to Harvard Library
1947 Sketches General MacArthur
1949/01/27 The Pony Express, April 1949: Struck by Powell Street cable car in SF (2:30 P.M.)
1949/02/16 General MacArthur sends message and photo
1949/03/21 State of California, Certificate of Death - Elbridge Ayer Burbank died, Laguna Honda Home Hospital, San Francisco, CA.
1949/03/24 Harvard Herald, front page: "Elbridge A. Burbank Dies in California"
1949/03/26 1:00 p.m., nearly 50 people gathered at the Halsted Chapel
1949/03/31 Harvard Herald, front page: "... Painted Famous Lincoln Portrait at Smithsonian"
1949/07/16 Disinterred, ashes moved to Rockford, IL
1953/01/26 Alice Blanche Wheeler dies [Note: Elbridge's 1st wife]
1957/07/05 State of California, Certificate of Death - Nettie Kalblinger Burr dies [Note: Elbridge's 2nd wife]
1984 Disinterred, ashes moved to Mt. Auburn Cemetery, Harvard, IL
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