concludes with an earnest petition that negroes should be excluded from their town and neighborhood, alleging as a reason that their houses and gardens would be robbed by them, and that, "besides other great inconveniences, white people were in danger of life from them."*

Of humble origin and moderate education, of primitive habits, accustomed to labor, free from covetousness and ambition, temperate, industrious, frugal and orderly, solicitous for the education of their children and the maintenance of the needy and the orphan, meddling not in the affairs of their neighbors, acknowledging allegiance to the Trustees and the King of England, maintaining direct connection with the Lutheran Church in Germany, and submitting without question to the decisions of their ministers. and elders in all matters, whether of a civil or ecclesiastical nature, engaging in no pursuits save of an agricultural or a mechanical character, and little given either to excitement or wandering, these Saltzburgers for years preserved the integrity of their community and their religion, and secured for themselves a comfortable existence. As early as 1738 the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer made some limited experiment in growing cotton and were much encouraged ;— the yield being abundant, and of an excellent quality. The Trustees, however, having fixed their hopes upon silk and wine, the cultivation of this plant was not countenanced.†

It was estimated by Mr. Benjamin Martyn, Secretary of the Trustees, that up to the year 1741, not less than twelve

*An Impartial Enquiry into the State and Utility of the Province of Georgia, pp. 69, 72. London, 1741.

Compare A State of the Province of Georgia attested upon Oath, &c., pp. 5, 29, 30, 32. London, 1742.

69.

An Account showing the Progress of the Colony of Georgia in America, &c., pp. 66, London, 1741.

↑ See McCall's History of Georgia, vol. 1, p. 199. Savannah, 1811.

hundred German Protestants had arrived in the Colony. Their principal settlements were at Ebenezer, Bethany, Savannah, Frederica, Goshen, and along the road leading from Savannah to Ebenezer. They were all characterized by industry, sobriety, and thrift.

About the year 1744 the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer and along the line of the public road running from that town to Savannah, through the assistance of friends in Germany, were enabled to build two comfortable and substantial houses for public worship,-one at New Ebenezer, called Jerusalem Church, and the other about four miles below, named Zion Church. The joy experienced upon the dedication of these sacred buildings was soon turned to grief by the death of one of their faithful pastors,-the Reverend Israel C. Gronau,-who, in the supreme moments of a lingering fever, desiring a friend to support his hands uplifted in praise of the Great Master whom he had so long and so truthfully served, exclaimed "Come, Lord Jesus! Amen!! Amen!!!" and with these words, the last upon his lips,-entered into peace.*

Reverend Mr. Bolzius continued to be the principal pastor and, as an assistant, the Reverend Mr. Lembke was associated with him.

As early as January 31, 1732, Sir Thomas Lombet certified to the Trustees of the Colony that silk produced in Carolina possessed "as much natural Strength and Beauty as the Silk of Italy." In his "New and Accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia," Mr. Oglethorpe enumerated among the chief revenues which

* See Strobel's Saltzburgers and their Descendants, p. 123. Baltimore, 1855.

↑ An Account showing the Progress of the Colony of Georgia, &c., pp. 39, 40. London, 1741.

4 Chapter V, pp. 55, 59. London, 1733.

might be anticipated from the settlement of Georgia, profits to arise from the manufacture of silk. His opinion was that between forty and fifty thousand people might be advantageously employed in this business. In view of the encouragement which might reasonably be expected from Parliament, and the cheapness of the labor and land, he estimated that the cost of production would be at least twenty-five per cent. lower than that then current in Piedmont. Sharing in this belief, the Trustees sent to Italy for silk-worm eggs, and engaged the services of several Piedmontese to go to Georgia and instruct the Colonists in the production of silk.* In the grants of land to parties emigrating to Georgia either at their own expense or at the charge of the Charity, may be found covenants on the part of the grantees to "keep a sufficient number of white mulberry trees standing on every acre," or else to "plant them where they were wanted." A special plea is entered by Benjamin Martyn in behalf of silk-culture in Georgia and the manifest benefits to be expected.+

The early accounts all agree in representing the production of silk as one of the most important matters to be considered and fostered in connection with the establishment and development of the Colony of Georgia.

In 1735, Queen Caroline, upon the King's birth-day, appeared in a full robe of Georgia silk; and in 1739 a parcel of raw silk, brought from Georgia by Samuel Augspourguer, was exhibited at the Trustees' office in London to "Mr. John Zachary, an eminent raw-silk merchant, and to Mr. Booth,--one of the greatest silk-weavers in England,”—both

*An Account showing the Progress of the Colony of Georgia in America, p. 13. London, 1741.

Martyn's Reasons for establishing the Colony of Georgia with regard to the Trade of Great Britain, p. 9. London, 1733.

of whom "declared it to be as fine as any Italian silk, and worth at least twenty shillings a pound.'

With that industry and patience so characteristic of them as a people, the inhabitants of New Ebenezer were among the earliest and the most persevering in their efforts to carry into practical operation Mr. Oglethorpe's wishes in regard to the production of silk. In 1736 each Saltzburger there was presented with a mulberry tree, and two of the congregation were instructed by Mrs. Camuse in the art of reeling.

Under date of May 11th, 1741, Mr. Bolzius, in his journal, records the fact that within the preceding two months. twenty girls succeeded in making seventeen pounds of cocoons which were sold at Savannah for £3, 8s. The same year £5 were advanced by General Oglethorpe to this Clergyman for the purchase of trees. With this sum he procured twelve hundred, and distributed them among the families of his parish.

On the 4th of December, 1742, five hundred trees were sent by General Oglethorpe to Ebenezer, with a promise of more should they be needed. Near Mr. Bolzius' house a machine for the manufacture of raw-silk was erected, and the construction of a public Filature was contemplated. Of the eight hundred and forty-seven pounds of cocoons raised in the Colony of Georgia in 1747, about one-half was produced by the Saltzburgers at Ebenezer. Two years afterwards this yield was increased to seven hundred and sixtytwo pounds of cocoons, and fifty pounds thirteen ounces of spun silk. Two machines were in operation in Mr. Bolzius' yard, capable of reeling twenty-four ounces per day. It was

*An Account showing the Progress of the Colony of Georgia in America, &c., p. 32. London, 1741.

apparent, however, that while, by ordinary labor, about two shillings could be earned, scarcely a shilling per diem could be expected by one engaged in the manufacture of silk. This fact proved so discouraging to the Colonists that, except at Ebenezer, silk culture was generally relinquished. The Germans persevered, and as the result of their energy, over a thousand pounds of cocoons and seventy-four pounds, two ounces of raw-silk were raised at Ebenezer in 1750, and sold for £110 sterling. The community was now pretty well supplied with copper basins and reeling machines. Considerable effort was made in England to attract the notice of the Home Government to this production of silk in Georgia, and to enlist in its behalf fostering influences at the hands of those in authority. In 1755 a paper was laid before the Lords of Trade and Plantations, signed by about forty eminent silk throwsters and weavers, declaring that "having examined about 300 wt. of Georgia raw-silk they found it as good as the Piedmontese, and better than the common Italian silks." Assurance was given that there was the utmost reason to afford "all possible encouragement for the raising of so valuable a commodity."*

In 1764 fifteen thousand two hundred and twelve pounds of cocoons were delivered at the Filature in Savannah, then under the charge of Mr. Ottolenghe, of which eight thousand six hundred and ninety-five pounds were contributed by the Saltzburgers. In 1766 the production of silk in Georgia reached its acme, and from that time, despite the encouragement extended by Parliament, continued to decline until it was practically abandoned a few years before the inception of the Revolution. Operations at the Filature