It was a Her, not a Him. Boy spiders are tiny weak little things, girl spiders are giant egg sacks. You probably did yourself a favor. They deposit eggs in your eves all autumn long which hatch out in the spring and disperse themselves around your property.

Are they long-leaf pines? You can make lovely baskets from those. It's what people used to do before the internet.

Good coffee, good weed, and time on my hands...