According to the 1860 Census, R. A. Neyland's operated a Steam Shingle Mill at Orange, Texas. It had a capitalization of $4,000. Neyland paid total monthly wages of $180 for his crew. From raw material worth $1,000 for 1,000 cypress logs, the mill manufactured shingles worth $11,522.
W. T. Block wrote in Cotton Bales, Keelboats and Sternwheelers: A History of the Sabine River and Trinity River Cotton Trades, 1837-1900 that by 1853 sawmill operations near Orange included those of John Merriman, R. A. Neyland, R. H. Jackson, Brosser Wood and Co., and the Empire Mills.