S. A. Cooke, according to the 1880 Census, owned a steam-powered circular sawmill in District 62 of Panola County. He employed eight men at peak production and three men normally, paying them $1.00 to $1.50 daily for eight-hour shifts. Cooke paid out a total of $560 in wages for seven months of mill production. The sawmill, from a value of $1550 in supplies and sawlogs, produced 280,000 feet of lumber valued at $2,800.
He would later move his sawmill to Elysian fields.