Harold Trivett was born on May 13, 1924, in Dickenson County, Flatwood. He was raised on a large farm of 1,560 acres, where he learned farming from a young age. By the time he was five, he was already milking cows, and by six, he was milking two cows, walking two miles to school, and then returning to milk them again. Harold completed his education at Virginia Tech (VPI). After finishing school, he worked in a store in Haysi for three years before moving to Grundy, where he built a building and started a business named Arington Trivett, also known as the Family Shop, in 1950.

Helen Combs Johnson was born on February 7, 1912, in Grundy, Virginia, where she was also raised. She was delivered by her uncle, who was a doctor, in her family home located downtown, where the Combs Building currently stands. Her early childhood was marked by a significant event when the town burned down on Christmas Eve in 1915. Johnson, along with her brother, was rolled up in a blanket and taken to safety by her parents, who managed to save most of their wedding presents before their home was consumed by the fire.

subject: Flood control--Virginia; Flood damage prevention—Virginia; Buchanan County (Va.)--History; Grundy (Va.)--Social life and customs; Levisa Fork Basin (Ky. and Va.); Big Sandy River Valley (Ky. and Va.); United States. Army. Corps of Engineers.