J. L. Brown mortgaged in 1947 for his portable sawmill from the First National Bank of Cleveland. On June 8, 1949, J. L. Brown mortgaged to First National Bank of Cleveland his sawmill, mules, and a log wagon with all harness. He mortgaged, in 1950, his small sawmill and logging operation to the First State Bank of Cleveland. He remortgaged some equipment the following year to Peoples Bank of Shepherd. In 1953, he mortgaged 100,000 feet of hardwood lumber at his mill. In 1956, J. L. Brown Lumber Co mortgaged to the First National Bank of Cleveland four stacks of hardwood of more than 215,000 feet of lumber. That year his logging equipment included three Dodge trucks, four mules, and a winch truck.