 By 1875 Yonge was engaged in the real estate and insurance business rather than the practice of law, and in 1876, he got into lumber manufacture and export, in which he was active for over fifty years.In 1876, P. K. Yonge became secretary of the Muscogee Lumber Company, a position he held until 1889 when the business was taken over by the Southern States Land & Timber Company, of which he was made corporate assistant manager and manager of its New York office.In 1892 he was appointed superintendent of the company's Muscogee Mills; when the Southern States Land & Timber Company went into receivership in 1895, he was appointed agent for the receivers and had full charge of company affairs until 1898 when the Southern States Lumber Company was organized to take over the business.