The Northwestern Lumberman reported that R. P. Snelling ran a sawmill near the tracks of the Houston East & West Texas, south of the Trinity River, in 1880. The 1880 Census located the plant in Liberty County. The mill was equipped with circular and muley saws. Capitalized at $3,500, the mill was powered by steam employed fifteen men normally, eighteen at peak. The workers were paid daily wages (ten-hour shifts) of $3.00 for skilled and labor and $1.40 for unskilled. Snelling paid a total wage of $6,000. The mill, with $22,500 worth of raw materials and sawlogs, manufactured three million feet of lumber, worth a gross value of $30,000 during the reporting period.
He had later lumber interests in Hardin County.