W. D. Wells was reported by the Southern Industrial and Lumber Review to be cutting 20,000 feet of lumber daily at Jacksonville in 1906. A map published in 1906 locates W. D. Wells' cotton gin at the corner of East Street and Commerce Street in Jacksonville. In fact, the sawmill, according to county records, was located in the William Gates League, east of Jacksonville. The lumber would have been shipped by rail from Gallatin, several miles to the southwest or moved by wagon to Jacksonville.
In June, 1907, Wells mortgaged to Miller-Brooks his sawmill, planer, three log wagons, and eleven yoke of oxen, located on the William Gates League. Miller-Brooks operated a lumber facility at Jacksonville.