James Hand
Standard gauge, 16 to 25-lb rail Headquarters: Purvis, MS Mill Location: Purvis, MS (Lamar County) Mill Capacity: 0,000 ft/day Years of Operation: 1891-1914 Miles Operated: 3 miles in 1903 Locomotives Owned: |
Equipment: 3 log cars |
Click Map for Larger Version |
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History by Gil Hoffman: On July 6, 1891 James
Hand began his sawmilling career in partnership with his brother with
the purchase of the sawmill and timber holdings of June Poitevent, near
Purvis, Marion County. This mill was operated under the name "James
Hand & Brother" and had a cutting capacity of 20,000 feet per day.
The main product was car sills cut from longleaf yellow pine. The Poitevent
mill was located on the east side of the New Orleans & Northeastern
about a mile north of Purvis. On June 1, 1893 a second mill was purchased
from J. T. and C. W. Carley. The Carley mill was in Purvis on the banks of
Beaverdam Branch, about half a mile west of the county courthouse. In 1901, Fred A. Jordan,
brother-in-law of James Hand, became a partner. That same year, Hand
& Jordan built a new sawmill at Purvis with a cutting capacity of
40,000 feet per day. This mill incorporated the machinery of the Poitevent
& Staples mill at Hillsdale which James Hand had bought. In February
1901 a contract was signed with the New Orleans & Northeastern to build
a side track to this mill. Also in 1901, a standard gauge tram road was
built to log the mill. By March 1903 the timber holdings amounted to over
5,500 acres, extending from Purvis southward for about four miles on both
sides of the New Orleans & Northeastern. F. A. Jordan died in October
1902, and on March 16, 1903, his widow sold her inherited half interest in
the business to James Hand. On April 24, 1908 a
destructive tornado swept through Purvis completely destroying the Hand
sawmill and much of the town of Purvis. Rebuilding of the mill began almost
immediately. In May 1914 the mill closed permanently and in July 1914 was dismantled and moved to Hanford, 2 miles south of Purvis.
For a detailed history of this operation see: Steam Whistles in the Piney Woods Volume 2, by Gilbert H. Hoffman |
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ROSTER by Gil Hoffman:
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For more information contact Tony Howe at howe6818@bellsouth.net or David S. Price at dsprice46@bellsouth.net