The work of securing these lands was entrusted to T. C. Williams and he carried it through to a successful conclusion. Not only did he acquire the lands necessary, he made arrangements for the removal of three churches, six schools, and 193 graveyards containing 2,323 graves. In general, the landowners and local officials showed a positive spirit of cooperation with Williams and a large number of landowners took up lands adjacent to, or in the vicinity of the project, and continued farming or other pursuits in the same general neighborhood, so that their removal from the valley was not a loss to the community. Presumably, though, the movement was destructive to some smaller rural micro-communities in the lake bottom.