The PIGG-BOOTH Family
by Wayne E. Arrington, Sr. & Family

William Flourney "WF" Pigg (b: 8-7-1894, d: 12-8-1984) and Maggie Gertrue Pigg (b: 3-18-1899, d: 10-8-1976) were married 7- 4-1915, in Montcalm, WV. They had two daughters, Creola and Daphna.

W. F. was the son of Robert Lee and Laura Etta (Bowman) Pigg. Born in Patrick County, VA, his family settled on Browning-Lambert Mountain near Montcalm. He cut timber, punch mined, worked construction and farmed to make a living. He was a humorous man, a colorful storyteller, toy maker, fisherman and woodsman. He loved children, animals and the outdoors.

Maggie was the daughter of John Henry and Minerva (Janney) Booth. She was born and raised around McComas-Sandlick area by her mother and stepfather Jeff Caves. Maggie was a devout Christian, born with disabilities and claimed Oral Roberts healed some of them.

W. F. and Maggie first lived at Sandlick, then later moved to Pinnacle in 1924, where they witnessed the slate dump explosion and landslide that killed ten people, including the wife and daughters of a close friend. W. F. bought a small general store in Rock to move his family to safety and away from the tragedy.

Later on W. F.'s truck was found beside the railroad tracks at Crane Creek. He had disappeared and was assumed dead. Maggie continued to run the store for the next few years, but eventually had to shut it down. Times were hard and too many people could not pay on their accounts. She rented out the building as a house.

Nearly four years later, W. F. showed up alive and well. He had tried to make his fortune out West like so many others of the time. After the dust settled in the Pigg household, W. F. started rebuilding his life with his family. He used the lumber from the old store to build a new house in Sandlick. Then in 1942 they built another home on a farm on Wright's Mountain above Rock.

W. F. built ponds to water the animals and kept them stocked with his catches of fish from other areas, so the kids could fish when they visited. Four generations of his family and many neighboring children fished the ponds over the years.

As W. F. started up the mountain in his big work truck to go home from his store trips, he would blow the horn and throw candy to the children along the way. He made wooden toys during the winter months while tending the fire in the basement furnace. Maggie churned butter and collected eggs to trade for items they could not raise themselves.

A few years of poor health forced W. F. and Maggie to move in 1972, to a house near their church, the Pentecostal Holiness in Montcalm. W. F. continued to live in the house by himself after Maggie died. He kept a bag of candy by the front door for neighbor kids on their way home from school.