J. D. Pon, in February ,1903, is listed in the Shelby County records as mortgaging to D. D. Mims for $200 a steam engine and boiler, an Hendrick sawmill complete. Later that year, Pon mortgaged with Mims, according to Panola County records, for the sawmill, engine, and boiler. Because of the different county records, the sawmill may have been north of Tenaha, on either side of the county line between Shelby and Panola counties.
In 1910, Pon was listed as a sawmiller at Precinct 5, residence 121, in Tenaha.