Joseph Derry and W. A. Traylor operated a sawmill at New Waverly from about 1874 to 1878. In May, 1878, the Traylors sold to Charles E. Pugh for the use of William Spiller (he is listed as Wm. Spilles in the 1880 edition of the Northwestern Lumberman) a steam engine and a steam boiler, and a steam sawmill situated on the Lem Collard headright near New Waverly. The Lumberman's Directory of Saw Mills, Shingle Mills and Other Wood Working Factories in the Northwest, South and Southwest listed Spiller as still sawmilling at New Waverly.
W. T. Block's research indicates that Spiller sold the mill to William Schumtkoski, for chattel mortgages recorded in county records reveal that the latter was operating a sawmill in Walker County by 1882, and, that one mortgaged was to C. E. High, Trustee of W. F. Spiller.