South Carolina native Thomas Lively (1812-69) moved to Houston County in 1850. The community that developed around his land was named Livelyville in honor of his family. In the late 1850s he donated this part of his property for use as a cemetery. Headstones date from the 1880s and included those of pioneer area settlers and Lively family members. After the Civil War the Livelys moved to Grayson County, where Thomas died and was buried. His wife Jane (Dotson) Lively (b.1822) later returned to this area and was buried here upon her death in 11922.