J. J. Dial operated a sawmill and flooring-milling business in Cherokee County in 1900. That year, W. A. Barnes paid J. J. Dial $1900 in for a “1 & 3 RH Dixie sawmill 2 42” Dixie H Blocks 2 Curtis Dogs - 1 11x12 Ames engine, 1 44” x 14” Ames boiler, 1 Blakeslee steam pump, 1 sawdust chain” and “all the iron tracks of 1/2” x2”,” a Goodall Waters flooring machine, and two 50” saws and a 3-saw tower edger.
W. H. Davenport apparently came into possession of the industrial plant, for he mortgaged with Dilley in 1901 for almost the exact same equipment, including the right-hand Dixie sawmill and the Goodall-Waters flooring machine. Davenport mortgaged for $2,000.
He sold 4,000 feet of lumber in 1902 to an individual named Berryman as well as 260,000 feet to Dilley in April.