THE SALZBURGERS 137 



There was one apparent exception to this decay and 

 unprofitableness of the silk industry, and this was 

 among the Salzburgers, a settlement of German Prot- 

 estants, who came to Georgia in 1734, and settled 

 twenty -five miles above Savannah, at Ebenezer. 

 Under the care of their pastor, John Martin Bolzius, 

 the silk culture of the settlement attained to much 

 prominence. "In 1736," writes Rev. P. A. Strobel, 

 historian of the Salzburgers, "mulberry trees were 

 planted at Ebenezer under the direction of Mr. 

 Bolzius, and the Salzburgers were among the first 

 and most successful in carrying out the wishes of 

 the trustees in this particular. In 1742, five hundred 

 trees were sent to Ebenezer, and a machine was 

 erected for preparing the silk. In 1745 and 1746, 

 specimens were sent to England, and in 1748, four 

 hundred and sixty -four pounds were produced. In 

 1749, the trustees authorized Mr. Bolzius to erect ten 

 sheds and ten machines for reeling, and other means 

 necessary to carry on the manufacture. In 1750, 

 nearly all the colonists had abandoned the experiment 

 of silk -raising, except the Salzburgers. They perse- 

 vered, and every year became more skilled in the 

 business, and in 1751, they sent over to England a 

 thousand pounds of cocoons and seventy -four pounds 

 two ounces of raw silk, yielding the handsome sum 

 one hundred and ten pounds sterling, or upwards of 

 five hundred dollars, the price being at that time 

 thirty shillings per pound. * Many 



mulberry -trees are still [1855] standing at Ebenezer, 

 which no doubt have sprung from the original stock ; 

 and many of the descendants of the Salzburgers con- 

 tinue to raise silk, which they manufacture into fish- 



