[10] Captain William Ashmead Courtenay (1831-1908) served in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in the Civil War, and was the mayor of Charleston, South Carolina from 1879–1887.

[12] The company purchased 350 acres (1.4 km2) of land along the Little River in Oconee County on June 1, 1893.

They also constructed a village of about 50 cottages, and the mill began manufacturing cotton cloth on June 14, 1894.

[8] The mill was immediately profitable, giving its investors a 15% rate of return in its first year of operation.

Some of the employees and town residents left to work at other Abney Mills factories.