S. A. Thompson milled in Cherokee County from the early 1880s. He bought from Keating for $1,100 a #3 steam engine and and #3 1/2 boiler. Thompson bought from Hoyt Bros for $200 a #2 1/2 Tompkin planer with fifteen planer heads. The location of the sawmill is still unknown. The grist mill, planing mill, and cotton gin in 1885 were located at Jacksonville on the corner of North Front and Fry streets and west of the International & Great Northern railroad tracks. Steam machinery included a 20-horspowered steam engine and boiler each. A map of 1896 of Jacksonville still records Thompson's plants at North Front and Fry streets.