W. H. Bonner, in the 1877 Angelina County tax records, had a $1,000 value in tools, machinery, and the steam engine and boilers. The mill was located on the S. Underwood Grant.
According to census records for the year ending May 31, 1880, W.H. Bonner ran a sawmill in Angelina County in what was then called “Beat No. 2.” The amount of investment in the mill was d at $2600. Bonner employed seven hands (three under sixteen years of age), and paid them between $0.75 and $1.00 per eight hour day. Bonner did his own logging, and ran the mill only three months at three-quarters time during the year. The mill was driven by an 18-horsepower steam engine. By 1882, he was operating on the J. Hardin and J. Benton grants in the county.
R. W. Haltom's 1888 history of Angelina County makes no mention of W. H. Bonner's sawmill, which could, but not necessarily, indicate the mill was no longer active.