The Houston Morning Star, quoting the San Augustine Redlander, February 9, 1842, reports that Judge Wyatt Hanks built “The first saw mill in Texas . . . 16 years ago on the Ayish Bayou within 1 mile of San Augustine. Ruins of the ancient mill and many relics of the mill dam still can be seen.” Webb in the Handbook of Texas reports that Hanks operated the mill until November 5, 1834. Dr. H. P. Easton records that in 1839 Wyatt Hanks and Donald McDonald as owners, with John Murchison as engineer, entered an agreement “to saw lumber on the Ayish Bayou, south of town, though the mill may have been running at an earlier date . . .”
Since Hanks had moved in 1834, his agreement with McDonald probably reflects that McDonald would run the mill.