Silk Culture

From The Encyclopedia of Mormonism

See this page in the original 1992 publication.

Author: Hall, Elizabeth H.

President Brigham Young conceived sericulture in the Great Basin as an important component in economic stability. He regarded locally produced silk as a practical textile and as a light industry that could be maintained at home by women and children, requiring less intensive labor and capital outlay than cotton, flax, or wool. He planted the first mulberry trees in Deseret, which were imported from France in 1855.

In 1856, Elizabeth Whitaker produced cocoons from worms that her husband brought from England as eggs; in 1858, Nancy Barrows planted mulberry seeds, feeding her worms on lettuce leaves until the mulberry trees matured. She reeled thread, wove it into fabric, and made the first silk dress in the territory of Deseret in 1859. In 1863, Octave Ursenbach and his wife exhibited 3,000 cocoons they had produced in Salt Lake City. Paul and Susanna Cardon produced silk in Cache Valley during the early 1860s, and Paul A. Schettler and his family set up a loom for weaving silk in 1867 and began raising cocoons in Salt Lake City.

In 1867, President Young offered free eggs and mulberry leaves to any persons willing to "undertake the work" of hatching, tending, and feeding the worms. He called George D. Watt to promote silk culture throughout the territory and Zina D. H. Young, of the newly reorganized Relief Society, to head the silk project. She traveled widely over the territory, delivering speeches, and organizing and teaching classes.

Carolyn Jackson raised the first silk in St. George in 1869. In Ogden Mariana Comb Bens was independently producing silk before the Relief Society took it on. By 1870, most ward Relief Societies produced silk, and by 1880 every Relief Society in the territory had a silk project. Important promoters of silk culture were A. K. Thurber in Spanish Fork, Daniel Graves in Provo, and Anson Call and Mary Carter in Layton. Susan B. Anthony and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes both enjoyed gifts of silk articles.

The silk industry continued moderately healthy through most of the 1880s, but a lull marked the late 1880s and the early 1890s. The last surge of Utah's silk works began when officials decided to feature silk at the state exhibit at the 1893 World's Fair. The exhibit was a stunning success, and the attention it received resulted in renewed activity.

Headed by Zina D. H. Young, the Utah Silk Commission was established by the state legislature in 1896 to replace the older Deseret Silk Association, simultaneously authorizing payment of a bounty of twenty-five cents per pound for cocoons produced in the state. During 1897-1904, bounties were paid on 4,769, 7,493, 6,479, and 8,647 pounds of cocoons. Although production nearly doubled during these years, the crop was never profitable. In 1905, the legislature could not justify renewing the cocoon bounty, and except for individuals scattered throughout the state who maintained silk culture as a hobby, sericulture ended in Utah in 1905.

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