J. E. Brown had been planing lumber as early as 1951 in Montgomery County. M. Cooper told V. L. Beasley that he remembered that Brown had four tenant houses for his employees. On March 16, 1951, Brown sold to O. F. Adams a Woods planer, a shed, one office, a diesel engine, an International tractor, and three wagons. Joe McMullen (McMillan?) bought the company for $16,000 in cash and notes in 1956. The J. E. Brown Lumber Company appeared in the 1957 edition of Directory of Wood-Using and Related Industries in East Texas.
The Directory of Texas Manufacturers 1956-1958 reported that the J. E. Brown Lumber Company at Conroe was a sole proprietorship located at Conroe. The company, with less than twenty employees, manufactured pallets and lumber.