The sawmill firm of Jesse L. Veal at Chester is listed in the Directory of Texas Manufacturers, 1956-1958. Established in 1941, the firm produces pine lumber with about twenty-five workers.
Southern Lumberman reported that Mona Bush was running the Veal Lumber Company. The company had been operating since 1946, including besides the sawmill a cotton gin and general store. Ms. Bush began working for the company when she was seventeen in the gin then later as a bookkeeper. The cutting capacity was 21,000 feet daily, and the mill employed fifty workers.