The Jas W. Flanagan sawmill and grist mill was enumerated in the 1870 Census at Precinct 3, Rusk County. It was a combination mill, producing 60,000 board feet of lumber worth $1,200 and 1,000 bushels of cornmeal valued at $950. Each mill was d to be a capital value of $600 and $400, respectively. The mill operated nine months of the reporting period and employed four men, who received a combined total wage of $500.
His plantation, according to Gregg County records, was located south of Longview. E. A. Rice was operating a sawmill and shingle mill at the plantation by 1878.