According to census records for the year ending May 31, 1880, E. S. McCall had $1290 invested in a steam sawmill in Angelina County in what was then called “Beat No. 2.” McCall ran this mill only three months out of the year, employing eight hands (four children under sixteen years old), and paying them from $0.75 to $2.00 per ten hour day. McCall did his own logging.
In 1882, McCall possessed $1,025 worth of manufacturing tools in his sawmill.