Through incoming and outgoing correspondence and a small number of bills of sale, the Tennessee Mill Company Records, 1903-1909, demonstrate the typical activities of a flour, corn meal, and feed processing plant in Estill Springs, Tenn. Included are mentions of corn shipments in which the quality of the corn has come into question, wheat shipments in which the price paid does not compare favorably with other wheat sales, and railroad troubles in which the company is facing a roadblock in its attempt to reship grain through Nashville.

The majority of the correspondence and all of the bills of sale relate to Charles H. Corn, superintendent of the Estill Springs factory. These letters document the day-to-day workings of the mill but also demonstrate the high status of the mill among area politicians. Letters from Senator James B. Frazier and Lawrence D. Tyson ask for political support from Corn.

The correspondence also documents the vast number of mills in Tennessee around the turn of the 20th century. Among the facilities represented in this collection are the Ross-Meehan Foundry Company in Chattanooga, the Hardy Grain Company in Union City, the Ransom Brothers & Company (grain and cotton) in Murfreesboro, and Liberty Mills (flour, meal and grits) in Nashville. A number of letters to or from officials with the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the North Carolina & St. Louis Railroad can also be found in these records.