A portrait of Michael Rolston, circa 1980s
Michael Rolston was the son of Jean Byer Henderson Rolston Brady and Julian Kenneth Rolston. His grandparents were George Travis and Rachael Margaret Byer Henderson; great-grandparents, Jock Bedell and Anna Rosalie Henderson; great-great-grandparents, George Washington and Elizabeth Ann Tomlinson Henderson.
Michael Marietta College, Harvard University and Yale University. For more than 25 years, he lived and worked as a graphic designer in New York City. In 1958, his design for a book titled The Promised Land and Other Poems received numerous industry awards and was selected as one of the best book designs of the year. He was also involved in other prestigious projects including the signage programs for the Tampa International Airport, Madison Square Garden and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Westinghouse Pavilion Exhibition of the New York Worlds Fair and the Pan American Airline Terminal at Kennedy Airport.
In 1984, Michael became the owner of the Henderson Hall property. He lived at the Woodhaven house on the Henderson Hall property. For the last 20 years of his life, Michael held open houses at Henderson Hall during the holiday season with the home festively decorated.
He was active in the local community, serving as chair of the Williamstown Bicentennial Commission, as president of Artsbridge Associates, and as chair of the Board of the Williamstown Area Development Corporation—all while working to make improvements to Henderson Hall and to document items in his family’s archive.
Michael was the last Henderson family resident of Henderson Hall. He passed away in 2007 and left the property to the Oil & Gas Historical Association in Parkersburg.
Of Note
The last Henderson family resident of Henderson Hall
Award-winning graphic designer
