| Historicial Development: | A Santa Fe circular of 1904 indicates that the sawmill firm of Potts and Collins was one of the first into the new lumber area of Duff and Neuville.
According to maps at Stephen F. Austin State University's East Texas Research Center, the Shelby community of Duff is located next to the tracks of the Gulf Beaumont and Great Northern (Gulf Beaumont & Santa Fe), north of McFarland, south one mile from Neuville, and one-half mile west of Highway 2140. The Handbook of Texas noted that Neuville, founded in 1904, was named for a family that had lived in the area since the 1840s.
W. M. Collins was running a sawmill in Shelby County during 1909. He mortgaged his entire cut for $2,000 to the San Augustine Grocery Company in November 1909. The company was operating a commissary for its workers.
The 1910 census noted William Collins had a sawmill on San Augustine Road, residence 55, Precinct 1, Center. In 1910, Potts and Collins had accepted a mortgage on some sawmill machinery owned by L. R. Bagwell. In January 1910, they in turn mortgaged the machinery to C. P. Lynch. |