Marion County Deeds of Trust reveal that Lewis Moody and Charles W. Stuart were a combined grist mill, planing mill, and intended to open an iron foundry in 1863 at Jefferson. The complex was located at Block 70 in Jefferson on the town map drawn by Hugh Hursey.
The Census of 1870 enumerated a sawmill in the name of Moody. It was worth $5,000 in 1870. He employed eight men to whom he paid a total wage of $2,000 over twelve months. The mill produced 900,000 feet of lumber worth $9,000.
On July 28, 1870, Lewis Moody sold the mill to the firm of Watts & Arnold. The document was not filed until April, 1872, at the county courthouse. In April, 1872, W. B. Watts contracted with C. H. Welch, a local merchant, for supplies to run the mill operation; Watts gave the lumber yard as collateral.