John Durst, who had earlier milled in Cherokee County, exemplified the multi-faceted capacity of the Texas frontier mechanic/merchant. He was a blacksmith who also operated a mill that sawed lumber and ground grain. In 1850, his raw materials included 120 logs worth $60 and 1.000 bushels of corn. His mill, worth $1,000, produced 40,000 feet of lumber and 1,000 bushels of meal, worth $800 and $700, respectively. Durst earned an additional $600 for blacksmithing. He paid two men an average of $15 monthly to work at the mill and one men an average of $25 monthly to work in the blacksmithy.
This is the same John Durst who operated a water mill in Cherokee County. He ran the mill as early as 1832. He and his brothers Jacob and Joseph lived in the Cherokee County area during the 1820s. Jacob Durst died at the Alamo; he was one of the twenty-one members of the Gonzales relief expedition to the old mission.
John Durst moved to Leon County about 1843.