So popular had the silk business become at Ebenezer, that Mr. Habersham, in a letter dated the 30th of March, 1772, says, "some persons in almost every family there, understand its process from the beginning to the end." In 1771, the Germans sent four hundred and thirty-eight pounds of raw silk to England, and in 1772, four hundred and eighty-five pounds, all of their own raising. They made their own reels, which were so much esteemed that one was sent to England as a model, and another taken to the East Indies by Pickering Robinson. The operations at Savannah were now totally discontinued, though Mr. Ottolenghe still styled himself "Superintendent of the Silk Culture in Georgia," and in consideration of his long and faithful service in that office, received an annuity of 100_l_. In a message of Sir James Wright, to the Commons House of Assembly, 19th of January, 1774, he says, "The filature buildings seem to be going to decay and ruin; may it not, therefore, be expedient to consider what other service or use they may be put to?" and the Assembly answered, "We shall not fail to consider how it may be expedient to apply the filature to some public use;" and henceforth it was used as an assembly or ball-room, a place where societies held their meetings, and where divine service was occasionally conducted: more recently, it was converted into a dwelling-house, and was thus appropriated at the time of its destruction by fire, on the afternoon of March 25, 1839. Thus ended the grand project for raising silk in the Province of Georgia; for though some few individuals, together with the people of Ebenezer, continued to raise small quantities, yet, as a branch of general culture, it has never been resuscitated. The last parcel brought to Savannah was in 1790, when over two hundred pounds were purchased for exportation, at from 8_s_. to 26_s_. per pound.