| Alpha-Numeric Key: | CK-345 |
| Corporate Name: | Sessions Lumber Company |
| Local Name: | |
| Owner Name: | Rube Sessions. Later Homer Sessions. |
| Location: | Wells |
| County: | Cherokee |
| Years in Operation: | 53 years |
| Start Year: | 1912 |
| End Year: | 1964 |
| Decades: | 1910-1919,1920-1929,1930-1939,1940-1949,1950-1959,1960-1969 |
| Period of Operation: | 1912 to 1964 |
| Town: | Wells |
| Company Town: | 1 |
| Peak Town Size: | 900 in 1928; 475 in 1934 |
| Mill Pond: |  |
| Type of Mill: | Mostly pine, some hardwood.
 Sawmill |
Pine Sawmill |
Hardwood Sawmill |
 Cypress Sawmill |
| Planer |
Planer Only |
Shingle |
Paper |
| Plywood |
Cotton |
Grist |
Unknown |
| Other |
|
|
|
|
| Power Source: | Steam then electric
| Horse |
Mule |
Oxen |
Water |
| Water Overshot |
Water Turbine |
Diesel |
Unknown |
| Pit |
Steam |
Steam Circular |
Steam Band |
| Gas |
Electricity |
Other |
|
|
| Maximum Capacity: | 15000: 1928 40000: 1934 |
| Capacity Comments: | 15,000 feet daily (1928); 1934: 40,000 feet; 1940s: estimated 40,000 feet (HCP) |
| Produced: |
| Rough Lumber |
Planed Lumber |
Crossties |
Timbers |
| Lathe |
Ceiling |
Unknown |
Beading |
| Flooring |
Paper |
Plywood |
Particle Board |
| Treated |
Other |
| |
|
| Equipment: | A circular sawmill, planing mill, edgers, trimmers. He had no dry kilns in 1928. Later used Arkansas dry kilns. Steam-powered dry kilns were installed later. |
| Company Tram: | |
| Associated Railroads: | St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) |
| Historicial Development: | Rube Sessions operated a sawmill near Forrest around 1905, moving his mill north of Wells before World War I. Annual rental of trackage rights over the Texas and Southeastern was $450 per mile in 1912. Sessions bought lumber from other mills in the area. The planer was located adjacent to the tracks, and the mill was built on the north side of town.
His mill plant at Wells appeared in the Southern Lumberman's 1928 directory of sawmills, and was listed as having a 15,000 board feet per day capacity and having an older planing, which moved slowly. It was soon replaced. The mill cut gum, oak, and shortleaf pine, but did no mill work nor retail at Wells. In 1934, a highway right of way forced Sessions to move his new steam mill south of Wells with dry kilns and planers, bringing his estimated daily capacity to 40,000 board feet. The mill that was operating in 1943 was built in 1939.
Sales were done with old-fashioned “drumming.” The salesmen, Bob Falvey and Bob Drew, in particular, would typically leave Wells on Monday on a selling trip and return on Friday. Most of the hardwood, including all of the gum, was sold to a box factory in Jacksonville.
Homer Sessions bought out his father Rube in 1951. Much of the machinery was changed from steam to electric, the dry kilns being the noticeable exception. The sawmill burned down in 1960. In 1964, the company was advertising for sale the following located at Wells: a planer, matcher, band resaw, steam boilers, a dry kiln, logging equipment, and vehicles. |
| Research Date: | MCJ 01-31-96 |
| Prepared By: | M. Johnson |