09/02/2026
For this week's Homesteader Highlight, we're featuring the W.W. Williams family.
Winfred “Jack” and Harriet “Hattie” (Corley) Williams moved into O-1 with the first group of homesteaders in July of 1934. They brought with them their two daughters, Glenna (17) and June (14). Their third daughter Hilda (20) had married Charles Hendershot and they remained in a coal company shack in Pursglove. Jack fell ill and could not work, but the government let Hilda and Charles move into the house to work in Jack’s place, ensuring the family could pay their bills and stay in Arthurdale. Eventually his health improved, and he was able to work as a stone mason again.
Hilda and Charles joined the last group of homesteaders in 1937 and moved into O-9. Hilda had not finished school so she attended AHS for 3 years to earn a diploma. Both she and June graduated in 1938, and President Roosevelt spoke at their graduation ceremony. In the 1950 census, they had a son and a daughter. Earlier Charles had worked for the Mountaineer Craftsmen Cooperative Association under Dan Houghton and learned how to build quality furniture. He continued woodworking evenings in the school shop after the MCCA closed and made furniture for his home plus many other pieces for relatives.
June was living at home and working as a stenographer for the government in 1940. In 1943 she married Albert E. Mayfield, a homestead family son and WWII veteran. In the 1950 census, they were living in E-5, had a son and a daughter, and Albert was a postal clerk while June was working part-time as a census enumerator.
Glenna never married, but she touched thousands of lives. Graduating from AHS in 1935, she earned an elementary education degree from Fairmont State and did graduate work at WVU and the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. After teaching for several years, she focused on mission work in coal camps and was the founder of the Rock Forge Neighborhood House. She was active with Meals on Wheels, the Arthurdale Community Presbyterian Church, and the Arthurdale Women’s Club. Glenna was the guiding force behind the formation of Arthurdale Heritage in the mid-1980s, and she served for five years as our first president. Without her energy and drive, it is unlikely that we would have become as successful as we are today.
The Williams family and their spouses are buried in the Arthurdale Cemetery.
