33 [ 175 ] 



From this time, until the year 1750, there are entries of large par- 

 cels of i-aw silk received from Georgia, the produce of cocoons raised 

 by the inhabitants, and bought from them, at established prices, by 

 the agents of the trustees, who had it reeled off under their direction. 

 In the year 1751, a public filature was erected, by order of the trus- 

 tees. "The exports of silk, from the year 1750 to 1754, inclusive, 

 amounted to ^8,880. In the year 1757, one thousand and fifty pounds 

 of raw silk were received at the filature. In the year 1758, this build- 

 ing was consumed by fire, with a quantity of silk, and 7,040 pounds 

 cocoons; but another was erected. In the year 1759, the colony ex- 

 ported upwards of 10,000 weight of raw silk, which sold two or three 

 shillings higher per pound, than that of any other country."* Ac- 

 cording to an ofiicial statement of William Brown, Comptroller of the 

 Customs of Savannah, 8,829 pounds of raw silk were exported between 

 the years 1755 and 1772, inclusive.t The last parcel brought for 

 sale to Savannah, was in the year 1790, when upwards of two hun- 

 dred weight were purchased for exportation, at 18s. and 26*. per 

 pound.J 



Some attention was also paid, in early times, to the culture of silk 

 in South Carolina; and the writer has been informed, that, durino- a 

 certain period, it was a fashionable occupation. The ladies sent the 

 raw silk produced by them to England, and had it manufactured. 

 "In the year 1755, Mrs, Pinckney, the same lady who, about ten 

 years before, had introduced the indigo plant into South Carolina, 

 took with her to England a quantity of excellent silk, w^hich she had 

 raised and spun in the vicinity of Charleston, sufficient to make three 

 complete dresses: one of them was presented to the Princess Dowager 

 of Wales, and another to Lord Chesterfield. They were allowed to 

 be equal to any silk ever imported. The third dress, now (1809) in 

 Charleston, in the possession of her daughter, Mrs. Horry, is re- 

 markable for its beauty, firmness, and strength. "§ The quantity of 

 raw silk exported as merchandise was small; for during six years, 

 only 251 lbs. were entered at the custom house. || The quality of it 

 was excellent: according to the certificate of Sir Thomas Lombe, the 

 e minent silk manufacturer, it had as much strength and beauty as the 

 silk of Italy. IF At New Bordeaux, a French settlement, 70 miles 



* M' Call's Hist. Georgia, vol. 1. p. 251. 



f It will be seen that this statement differs from that of Mr. M'Call. It first appear- 

 ed in B, Roman's account of Florida, and afterwards in Aikin's Pennsylvania Magazine, 

 for July, 1775 . An opinion of the quality of the Georgia silk, may be formed from the 

 following document: 



"A paper was laid before the Commissioners for Trade and Plantations, by about forty 

 eminent silk tlii-owsters and weavers, declaring, that, havin* examined a parcel of about 

 300 pounds weight of Georgia raw silk, imported in February last, they found the na- 

 ture and texture of it truly good, the color beautiful, tlie tliread even, and clean 

 as the best Piedmont, and will be worked with less waste than China silk." — London 

 Magazine for 1755. 



+ The late Charles Harris, Esq. : letter to the Secretary of the Treasury. 



§ Ramsay's History of South Carolina, vol. 1. p. 221. 



II Viz: in the years 1742, 1748, 1749, 1750, 1753, 1755.— Dodsley's Annual Beeis- 

 tev, 1761. 



i An Impartial Enquiry into the State of Georgia. — London, 1741, p. 79. 



