| Historicial Development: | Henry C. Ferrell sold the old O'Byrne sawmill for $900 to George Harrison and a Mr. Crutcher, located about two and a half miles north of O'Byrne Switch, in 1881. The firm was soon in business, selling lumber to J. M. Carnes, a local contractor. Linkham & Co (D. Linkham and E. Rice) had a shingle mill, which was forced to public sale when they lost a suit to L. McNaughton. For $130, R. D. Welborn and R. C. DeGrafenreid bought the mill, and resold it to Crutcher & Harrison for $175, in 1882.
Crutcher & Harrison, in 1884, bought W. S. F. Wilkins, Sr., planing mill, which was located one mile east of Longview between the tracks of the Texas & Pacific and the Gulf, St Louis & Sabine. The steam outfit powered the planer, a surfacer, and a resaw.
During the later 1880s, J. D. Crutcher took a mortgage for H. H. Lincoln on some of Lincoln's equipment that the latter used about his sawmill, some three miles north of Camp Switch on the Texas & Pacific. |