SILK. 



1814 she removed to Hartford, where she conducted letter in 1770 strongly encouraging (lie silk-worm 



& school for young Indies. In 1819 she was married culture, and the planting of tin- mulberry. Silk 



to Mr. Charles Sigouruey, a merchant of Hartford, manufacture in Connecticut became active after 



From her early contributions to periodicals her first 1760, and for many years was carried on there 111010 



volume, Murtii Piece* in 1'rott and Vrt (1815), was extensively than anywhere else in the United States. 



collected. More ambitious were her poems, Truitt During the colonial period, and for nmiiy years after 



of tits Abm-iyinet (1822) ; Zimendorf (1830) ; Poca- the Revolution, the manufacture was chit-fly of sew- 



ftonlmt (1841), which showed an earnest effort to pre- ing silk, and was largely a household art. The 



sent the poetical aspects of American scenery and methods of reeling and twisting were very primitive, 



history. Pitman! Mrnmrie* nf Plu<int Lttmls (184 J) and much of the silk became tangled and v. 



was the record of a tour in Europe, during which In 1790 the manufacture of silk hiccs l<egan at 



some of her poems were published in London. In Ipswich, Mass., where it continued ninny yenis. 



1S48 a collected edition was issued in New York, with Silk shoes are said to have been made. The making 



illustrations by Darley. Altogether, as shown by of fringes, coach laces, and tassels begun nt Phihulcl- 



hor Letter* of Lift (1866), she wrote fifty-six books, phia in 1793, and in 1815 silk trimmings were maun 



some of which were intended for children, and sev- in that city by William H. Horstmaun. The mann- 



er.il were biographical. She died at Hartford, June facture of sewing silk by steam-power began in imo. 



10, 1865. Abont 1825 the interest* in the silk industry greatly 



SILK. This article is confined to silk cnlture increased. There was at that time a large' imporla- 



and manufacture in America. The ef- tion of silk goods, and Peter S. Duponccan (q.v.), 



f***^ '-^^^- fort to produce silk in America began president of the American Philosophical Society, 



flep ) m very early in the history of the coun- brought the subject of the encouragement of Ame'r- 



try. Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, ican silk manufacture to the attention of Congress, 



hail eggs of the silk-worm brought to that country in established a small filature in Philadelphia, and 



1031; he had previously planted mulberry-trees, to exerted himself somewhat successfully for the ad- 



f iiruish food for the worms. The experiment was sue- vancement of the industry. Silk societies were es- 



cossfnl. Silk was produced, woven, and sent abroad, tablished in several States, books on silk cnlture pub- 



The industry, however, did not long flourish, and had 

 alni'nt vanished by the end of the century. Silk- 

 worms were sent to the English colonies in 1619. 

 Jamas I. had been foiled in his ctr>rts to establish 

 the rearing of silk-worms in England, and sent eggs 

 to Virginia, with an expert in their culture. He 

 earnestly urged that silk should bo produced instead 

 of tobacco, against which ho issued his famous C<iun- 

 terblaxt ; bounties were offered to farmers who should 

 produce silk, and penalties laid on those who should 

 fail to plant mulberry-trees. The experiment at first 

 promised well, but was soon neglected in favor of 

 tobacco-raising. Somo little silk was snnt to Eng- 

 land, but before the end of the century the indnstiy 



lished, new machinery for silk manufacture invented, 

 and a general interest in the subject awakened. 



This interest led to an extraordinary development 

 of specnlation, which ended in checking the Amer- 

 ican silk indnstiy for years. The worms hud, up to 

 this time, been fed on the leaves of the white mul- 

 berry (Morn* alba), and some other plants. After 

 1830 a vigorous effort was made to introduce the 

 Chinese mulberry (Morns mnltictttillii), on the ground 

 of its rapid growth and abundant production of 

 leaves. It was objected that it was not hardy, and 

 not relished by the silk-worms like the white mul- 

 berry, yet a fever of speculation broke out, mid the 

 price of the tree went tip rapidly, nntil cuttings 



died out in Virginia. Tlie French Huguenots of t ha leached an extravagant price. The excitement 

 Carolina^ were the first to introduce the silk inann- [ reached its height in 1839. People grew wild in 



fact nre into this country. They made silk-mixed 

 goods, importing the raw silk f>r that purpose. 

 S >me silk was produced in the Carolina-', but no im- 

 portant quantity. John Law sought to introduce 

 silk culture into Louisiana, at a p:v/t of his vast 

 schema for the improvement of that c >untry, but 

 the effort was unsuccessful. In 17:i'2 the culture of 

 tlio silk-worm was introduced into Georgia, and with 

 m>re success tli.in elsewhere in the country, under 

 the stimulus of vigorous encouragement from Eng- 

 lul In 17:53 Oxlethorpe took 8 Ibs. of silk to 

 K inland, whie.h WMH woven into a dress for Queen 

 Caroline. la 1730 a filature, or reeling establish- 

 in nit, was founded iu Savannah. The exportations 

 of raw silk grew nntil 1772, averaging 300 Ibs. yearly, 

 though rarely over 1,010 Ibs. in any one year. In 

 1766 the culture reached its highest point, 2*0,000 Ibs. 

 of cocoons being produced, those yielding some- 

 thing less than 2,000 Ibs. of r.iw silk. During the/ 

 Revolution the product was made into sewing silk, 

 mid s >ld at home. Tho industry vanished soon after 

 t.iu war. 



Silk culture began carlv in Pcnncylvania, and silk 

 was sent to England in 1726. It seems to hav been 

 somewhat active in Connecticut in 1732, and there is 

 evidence that silk was woven there to some extent. 

 The first coat and stockings manufactured from New- 

 England silk were worn by Governor Law in 17-17, 

 anil the first silk dress by his daughter, in 1750. 

 Efforts at manufacture were made elscwhe I 

 1765 it was stated that within four days 100 silk- 



their hopes of riches from the new tree-, Mender cut- 

 tings of 2 feet in length sold at fu-i- 

 each, and one nurseiyman ordered 5,000,000 voung 

 trees from Fiance, sending over .-Mi.tH'd as advance 

 payment. In the autumn of 1839 the bubble burst. 

 Thousands of the speculators were mined. By tl:o 

 spring of 1840 trees could not bo sold for 2 or 3 

 cents each. In 1844 most of those that remained 

 were destroyed by a violent storm, and the white 

 mulberries were widely blighted. Thns ended one 

 of the most extraordinary outbursts of speculation 

 in America. 



Meanwhile tho manufacture of silk poods was 

 growing. Raw silk began to be impoited fn in 

 China, Turkey, and Italy in considerable quantities, 

 improved machinery was invented, and by IS.'.o -i v- 

 eral firms had built up a pood business in the manu- 

 facture of sewing silk and twist, toir.o dress trim- 

 mings, and a few ribbons. Fiom 18,00 to 1>-CO tho 

 demand for sewing silk and twist increased, and it 

 was found that tho best American surpassed tho best 

 Italian in quality, evenness, stimuli, and color. 

 Tim production of the machine twist in 1852 fn\n 

 a great impetus to the sewing-silk industry, which 

 Las SO advanced since that dale as to free itself from 

 foreign rivalry. The manufacture of woven silk 

 goods now revived, and soon IxH-ame of importance. 

 About 1855 tho manufacture of spun silk (now in- 

 cluding almost every land of silk goods) began at 

 South Manchester, Vt. Silk ribbons began to be 

 mode in 1861. Tin- indnstiv was much stimulated 



throwers had loft England for New York and Phil- duringthe wai bytheproteetivedntyon iniiiiufiictun-d 

 adi-lphia, with tho purpose of ps'ablMiiir.; silk silk and tho free entry of uiw silk. IVerson, N. J., 

 manufacture in those cities. Dr. Franklin w rote a | " the Lyons of America," had 40 or 50 silk factories. 



