M. E. Cole was listed in a railroad directory as having a sawmill at Rusk in 1884.
Cole probably had a family relationship to Aaron Cole. A county history reported that Aaron Cole (1836 to 1919) resided in the Rusk area about the time the railroad (1870s) built through. Wanting to ship lumber on the railroad, Cole granted a right-of-way to it. Capitalizing in a large way, Cole built a hammer mill (feed crusher), a grist mill, planted a fruit orchard, erected a cotton gin, and operated a general store and a commissary. He was a veteran of the Civil War, being a member of Company I, 34th Georgia Regiment.