Otto Ruff, one of the many immigrant Germans that influenced the social and commercial development of Texas, bought a Steadham (Indiana) sawmill to Texas in 1859. He cut more than a million board feet in the next year. A. J. Ward bought the mill in 1860 and used it on behalf of the Confederacy. After the War, E. L. Goldsmith and M. W. Reagan bought the sawmill but both died during the 1867 yellow fever epidemic in Houston. After their deaths, the property changed ownership several times, and the mill remained abandoned until 1878. Mark Weiss, in 1878, partnered with James F. Ward, H. W. Potter, and W. P. H. McFaddin to form the Reliance Lumber Company. They bought the site and its equipment.
See Reliance Lumber company entry at Beaumont.