Centerville's Rich history

 Before European settlers arrived, the Muscogee Indians roamed these hills. Broken pottery, arrowheads, tomahawks, pipes and other evidence of the Native American civilization have been found near the Snellville cemetery. Centerville was located in the Rockbridge District of Gwinnett County, so named because of natural rock formations that American Indians and early settlers used to traverse the Yellow River. The rocks over which all of us have built our homes consist mainly of granite and mica chist. The granite is of the Lithonia type, which is extremely old, coming from the first period of geologic time, the Pre-Cambrian age.

Centerville was formerly known as Sneezer. However, residents in South Gwinnett decided that they would rather be known as residents of Centerville. Centerville denotes the community’s central location between Snellville to the North and Lithonia to the South. Sneezer was a term for a place of ignominy: a jail. Centerville had such a place, where prisoners were kept until the sheriff picked them up. Sneezer was the community’s name until the Civil War.

Centerville has existed as an unincorporated community for more than 150 years, and until the 1960’s, it was made up of mainly farmers and share croppers. In the 1800’s, the community had two stores, a school and its own post office which operated from 1879 to 1903 when it was discontinued. In addition, as many of you longtime residents know, we just opened our first post office recently (2000) on highway 124. It’s two churches, Zoar United Methodist Church and Rockbridge Baptist church, were founded in the early 1800’s. Emory Freeman, who owned a store in the 1800’s, operated a sawmill in the back. This store is currently a car sales lot across from the McDonald’s on Highway 124. “When people didn’t have money and needed meat, lard or whatever, they would come and get it and work at the sawmill to pay for it,” said David Mason. David Mason is a descendant of Ford Mason who was an early settler of Snellville. Mason’s Garden and Gift Center still exists and is located in a home David Mason’s grandfather built in 1900.

Who were the Livsey’s? The Livsey family originally came from England where the town of Livesey in the county Lancaster has been traced back as far as 1227. Green H. Livsey, 1776 to 1872, was the progenitor of the Livseys both in Gwinnett and other parts of Georgia. He served in the war of 1812. He also served as overseer in the plantation of Robert Toombs (later a United States senator and Civil War general) for two years until 1840 when he moved to the border of Gwinnett and Walton counties, living in both counties until his death. Charles H. Livsey, one of Green Livsey's sons, married his wife, Rebeckah in 1845 and they lived on the property on the corner of Caleb and Mink Livsey streets according to the census of 1850. The roads that have Livsey in their name are named after Charles and Rebeckah's children. Charles was a cotton farmer with a 508 acres farm, part of a land grant from the Creek Indians in 1820. Jim and Gayle Toney restored Charles and Rebeckah's home to its 1850's-1860's vintage look. The two-story home, built in a style called "Plantation Plain '' has the identical floor plan of the Tullie Smith House (exhibited on the grounds of the Atlanta Historical Society), except that it does not have the parson's room on the front porch. Jim Toney understands there were about 17 tenant houses on the farm originally, but a tornado took all the houses out. There was a blacksmith shop just outside the picket fence. There is still a level spot where it was located. Charles and Rebeckah were buried in the family cemetery that can easily be reached through the Innsbrook Subdivision at the back on the last street to the left. There is a vacant lot at the end of the cul-de-sac, which leads up to the cemetery. Although the identical headstones for Charles and Rebeckah are now illegible, at one time they read "Truth and Honor was the religion of our father sleeping here," and "A more noble mother, a truer friend, never slept beneath the sod."

Our Local Landmarks

The mill located in the Wynterset subdivision was a gristmill. J.P. Mason built the mill in 1840 during his term as sheriff. Indians inhabited the area heavily so it did not receive much use. [Note: that there was a Muscogee village nearby (possibly where Doolittle and No Business creeks meet) and there were skirmishes between the villagers and the settlers].

The stream that crosses Centerville-Rosebud bordering the subdivisions west of Mink Livsey is named "No Business" and the creek crossing Mink Livsey at the southern boundary of InnsBrook is named "DooLittle."

Listed among the names on the 1860 Census of this neighborhood is that of Thomas Maguire, a well-to-do landowner of 1000 acres and 26 slaves. The house on Highway 124 in the "Promised Land" area on the hill was his home and was used as a post office during the Civil War. Mr. Maquire, a member of the Sons of Temperance, campaigned against the sale of alcohol and always called his plantation, "Promised Land," a term that has stuck to this day. Mr. Maguire kept a diary. It chronicled home Union soldiers who raided his farm several times during the Civil War as General W. T. Sherman made his infamous march to the sea. On November 16, 1864, Maguire and his friend David Anderson slept in the woods while a detachment of Yankees camped at his house. The Yankees killed all his sheep and hogs. Maguire stated,"I did not like to go home, so I stayed with Anderson until 10 p.m. Slocum's corp. came and camped all around  the house. On every side, hogs and sheep were being shot and dressed to regale the palates of the Yankees. Anderson and I slept in the woods all night. This was not very pleasant for either body or mind." 

Once over, Maguire itemized the property that was stolen or destroyed and submitted the list to the Inferior Court of Gwinnett County so that he would not have to pay taxes on it. He estimated his losses at $35, 481. Maguire also stated," It is almost certain that the Yankees brought devastation to other families in the area."

The Promised Land Community

The Livsey family purchased the Promised Land in the 1920s and it became a growing focal point of commerce and development in the African American community. Thomas & Dorethia Livsey built businesses and homes through the 1970s, including the Promised Land Grocery store.