J. H. Brightwell was listed in the Southern Industrial and Lumber Review, as cutting 10,000 feet daily at his sawmill at Conroe. The mill was located at Frazier's Switch, and J. H. Brightwell was in business with his brother, C. E. Brightwell. C. E. Brightwell sold all his interest in the sawmill for $500 cash and $3,424 in notes to his brother, including sawmill and planer mill, one 40-horsepower Ames steam engine, one 50-horsepower boiler, one Curtis circular saw, commissary and merchandise, sawmill on premises leased by Brightwell Bros., all timber owned in common, also four mules, twenty oxen, three ox wagons, two Snyder wagons, and three mule log wagons.
Banks Griffith bought at a sheriff's sale Brightwell's sawmill in 1908 for $500.
Frazier's Switch was located on the west fork of the San Jacinto River where it crossed under the railroad tracks.