Lawrence County Historical Society

On Saturday May 30, 2015,  even though a few drops fell for all of three minutes, the thunderstorms that had been promised held off and  the wind blew away all the insects that might have wanted to join the group at the Centerville Cemetery Tour. 

There were three 'stations' with speakers to entertain the 100+ guests with stories, history and “Gossip from Grave" as the groups rotated around  the cemetery. Larry Curry talked about  the Day Cemetery, one of the earliest black cemeteries in the state, and directly across the road from the Centerville cemetery,  and its restoration.  Cyndi Seabrook shared interesting stories at the west end about people who were buried there and Donna Burton 'gossiped' about the early folks who settled  in a little town called Centerville.  After everyone had made their way to all three stations, refreshments were served at the Allison Church of the Brethren and Nobel Brown told about the relocation of the church building in the 1940’s.

 

For two years Rose Robeson, Kevin Borden, Noble Brown and Donna Burton as well as others have researched the lives of those buried at Centerville Cemetery.  They have spent untold hours and money traveling to local libraries and courthouses, reading microfilms of old newspapers and death records.   In addition they have tracked down descendants with requests of photos to complete this database.  This on-line database has been donated to the Historical Society for the use of FAMILY RESEARCHERS ONLY. Commercial use is prohibited as well as placing the information in bulk on other sites such as Find- a-Grave without adequate compensation to the Lawrence County Historical Society.