The firm of Richard Mahan, according to the 1880 Census, owned a steam-powered circular sawmill, valued at $1,500, in Panola County. He employed ten men at peak production and eight men normally, paying them $1.00 to $2.00 daily for ten-hour shifts during the summer and nine-hour shifts in the winter. During six months of half-time mill production, the sawmill, from a value of $2,000 in supplies and sawlogs, produced 350,000 feet of lumber valued at $3,500.