William Hyer, according to Dr. Woldert, raised in Tyler from the age of four in 1849, came to Smith County “at an early date, and established his saw mill on the Otis M. Wheeler survey, on Delaware creek, and near the old ‘Tejas' Indian trail, and south of the Delaware Indian Crossing' on the Sabine River. He established the mill in heavy groves of pine timber. His lumber was sold regionally, much being hauled to western points. His mill was abandoned, believed Woldert, about 1853. The mill was not far north of the old ‘Dallas and Shreveport Road', which gave it a good outlet. Hyer's sawmill is not record in the census of 1850.
Woldert did not know, that after Hyer's death, Robert T. McFarland bought the mill in 1860 along with 1,453 acres for $6,279 from the Hyer estate. Hyer's old home was on the Yarbrough Survey, and the mill was located in the Sawmill Tract, or the Gilley Tract. McFarland also bought two of Hyer's slaves, a twenty-one year old male named Peter and a twenty-three year old named Jack.
Robert T. McFarland, according to Dr. Woldert, “ran his sawmill about year 1856, It was situated south of the Sabine River, about 19 miles northeast from Tyler, and about 4 miles northeast from old town of Starrville, on Mace branch. This outfit was among very heavy growth of pine timber, and its products sold all around, much going to western towns.”