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Jonathan Wortham (HO-82)
| sawmill id: | 10820 |
| alpha-numeric key: | HO-82 |
| corporate name: | Jonathan Wortham |
| local name: | |
| owner affiliation: | Jonathan Wortham |
| location: | Five and a half miles northwest of Crockett |
| county: | Houston |
| years in operation: | 2 |
| start year: | 1859 |
| (qual) | * |
| end year: | 1860 |
| (qual) | * |
| decades: | 1850-1859 1860-1869 |
| period of operation: | 1859 to 1860 |
| town: | Northwest of Crockett |
| company town: | ? |
| peak town size: | Unknown |
| mill pond: | ? |
| type of mill: | Lumber and grain |
| sawmill: | Yes |
| pine sawmill: | |
| hardwood sawmill: | |
| cypress sawmill: | |
| planer: | |
| planer only: | |
| shingle: | |
| paper: | |
| plywood: | |
| cotton: | |
| grist: | Yes |
| unknown: | |
| other: | |
| power source: | Steam |
| horse: | |
| mule: | |
| oxen: | |
| water: | |
| water overshot: | |
| water turbine: | |
| pit: | |
| steam: | Yes |
| steam circular: | |
| steam band: | |
| gas: | |
| diesel: | |
| electric: | |
| other: | |
| unknown: | |
| maximum capacity: | |
| (qual) | |
| capacity comments: | 320,000 feet of lumber during the reporting period of the Census |
| rough lumber: | Yes |
| planed lumber: | |
| crossties: | |
| timbers: | |
| lathe: | |
| ceiling: | |
| unknown: | |
| beading: | |
| flooring: | |
| paper: | |
| plywood: | |
| particle board: | |
| treated: | |
| other: | Yes |
| equipment: | Sawmill and grist mill |
| company tram: | No |
| associated railroads: | None |
| historical development: | The Jonathan Wortham multi-purpose mill manufactured lumber and ground meal. Valued at $4,000, it had raw materials including $900 in sawlogs and $8,000 worth of corn. It carried a monthly payroll of four men averaging $20 each. It produced 320,000 feet of lumber valued at $1,980 and 7,400 bushels of cornmeal valued at $9,200. Wortham (1800-1867) served in 1837 as a member of the county?s Board of Land Commissioners and Sam Houston commissioned him as a Major in the Texas Army in 1839. His remains are interred in the Wortham Family Cemetery, four miles outside of Crockett. Aldrich, quoting the Crockett Printer of November 11, 1860, noted that the sawmill was ?five and one-half miles Northwest of Crockett, near the Navarro Road. . . . He also advertises he has a grist mill for grinding corn and that he will grind every Saturday.? |
| research date: | MCJ 02-20-96 |
| research by: | M. Johnson |
| historical interpretation: | |
| interpretation by: | |
| interpretation date: | |
| bibliography: | Census of 1860. Houston County, Texas. Schedule No. 5, Products of Industry. Microfilm Records, East Texas Research Center, Stephen F. Austin State University. Nacogdoches, Texas. A. A. Aldrich. The History of Houston County, Texas. San Antonio: 1943. 50, 192-202. Thomas C. Richardson and D. White. East Texas: Its History and Its Makers 4 vols. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1940. 1027. W. T. Block. ?Some Early Sawmills, Log Tram Roads, and Logging Camps of Houston County, Texas.? Nederland, Texas: unpublished manuscripts, 1994. |
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