The Henry County Peanut Oil Mill, the first of its kind in Alabama, was built in Abbeville in July 1916 by businessmen Robert Newman and Mike Sachar, a Russian Jewish immigrant. Its owners were Robert Newman, W.T. Dawkins, and Mike Sachar, who also served as manager and operator. By 1918, the mill was producing an excellent grade of peanut oil and peanut meal. As expansion became necessary, its leaders partnered with Abbeville's M.V. Capps, the wealthiest man in the Wiregrass, who became its largest shareholder. In 1918 the mill was renamed the Pioneer Peanut Oil Mill, with Robert Newman remaining president and Mike Sachar continuing as head of mill operations. M.V. Capps died in 1921, and three months later a fire destroyed the 75,000-dollar mill. Afterward, Robert Newman built a peanut-crushing mill south of Abbeville called the Southeastern Peanut Company. In failing health, he later moved to Tampa, Florida, where he died in 1926. Mike Sachar later worked at the F&M Bank in Headland and at Dothan's Peanut Oil Mill Company, and as one of the last surviving pioneers of the southeastern peanut industry, he died in 1951.