CNN iReport

In Snellville,Ga.,a city about 25 miles east of Atlanta racial strives are being made by a prominate family mending their historic roots. white and Black Livseys becomes One Family... WE ARE LIVSEY ONE OF GWINNETT COUNTY'S FIRST FAMILIES 1840. Its our purpose to promote the heritage of Gwinnett County,Georgia. We feel its our duty to educate its citizens,students,and visitors of the influences and effects of the Civil War.

While history books illustrate grand battlefields ,like Gettysburg,Vicksburg or even Chica- magua,where fathers and brothers fought to the death, against each other. The bloody and the dead were left to rot where they laid.

For better or worse, today's history is left for the living. We must question our past in order to determine our own future.

This is the story of the racial divide and a reunion 187 years ago, of a proud American family.

Our Georgia history starts back in Virginia, with the birth of a son to an English family, the Leviseys'. They were still new to the American Colonies. After extensive research, they found their new home, in a small town named Culpepper, Virginia. Shortly after, the Levisey family welcomed in a new-born boy named, Greene in 1774.

Although he was from English desent,he served in the War of 1812 from Virginia. After the war he moved to Georgia around 1815. On January 7,1817, he married Barbera Ann Poss. The daughter of Henry Poss in Wilkes Co., Ga. The Poss family was of Dutch descent. Green H. Livsey(name spelled as, Lipsey in Wilkes Co.1820-'39records), lived in Wilkes County about twenty-five years before selling his plantation there in 1838. He served for two years as overseer to Sen. Robert Toombs Plantation,before he moved to the county borders of Gwinnett and Walton Counties in 1840.

Sandy Levisey was born 1821-22. He is alledgely the mulatto son of either Green or Barabera Ann Levisey. Sandy was the progenitor of the black Livsey families that were registered in the 1870 U.S.Population Cencus in Gwinnett County records. In the 1880 U.S. Census, both Levisey family parties were using the current spelling of, "Livsey".

1870 records show that Sandy maintained control of his family throughout all of the obstacles faced by most slaves during the 1820-1865. He was not faced with issues about separartion of family, as in the historic fiction like ,"Roots". He was not included as a slave; however he he did remain loyal and close to the white Livseys' of Gwinnett Co., Ga..up to 1900's.

Until recently, like most American families, family records or family trees were primarily for the priviledged and the powerful, as a record of how to allocate family jewels or power. My name is Tom Livsey. I am just a brick in the wall. However, I am part of the wall Sandy Livsey built on the foundation Green H. Livsey started.

I have been researching our family tree for the past six years with my best assistant,my father.Until then me and my daddy could only talk about work. Now we have a hobby! No its not a "Rock, Coin, Stamp or even comicbook collection. We are trying to put our family history together before we die It has been very challenging, due to our mixed nationalities. My forefathers were black, white and Indian. Melungeon is the term that describes a person of tri-racial desendance. Historical records were not always kept for slaves and Indians.

A lot of records sometimes were passed down through family members; however, much was lost because of the inability of the elder members that did not acknowledge the mixed blood. "Seems to me you are either too young to know or too old to care ,when it came to discussing family matters in the past.", explains Tom.

My daddy only wanted to know about his grandfather, Hiram. Who was he? Were is he buried? But my ability to research online and at the Archives, hit a brick wall in 1870 cencus...Up til then, I was able to find small bits of pieces of info about my forefathers.

My father would quizzed me every other day. His questions went from..., Did you find something? To wishful thinking remarks like '"Did you find anything? The biggest and most important revelation of all ,for both of us, was to realize that in order for us to find our forefathers beyond the 1870 cencus, we must make contact with the known white Livsey family from the same area during the same time. (Note: This is the most important aspect for mending slavery issues.For only through researching plantation owners and slaves /or desentance can you people of color learn to be able to honor their forefathers and mothers who strived to make this day possible for all of us black people).

Hold what you have in your mind...Now burn what hatred you might have in there.....because if given the chance to raise from their graves, they would rejoice of the fact that YOU are free....If pushed further they would chastise you for your lingering hatred and instead tell you of where the "Real Start of Slavery began...in Africa---by conquering black african chieftains. These African Chieves traded our forefathers for trade goods.

What followed was simply not imagined.My dad called Jack Livsey. They had joked for decades about being cousins. However during those times in the 60's south , that was nothing to joke about.

We are the Livsey's.

No one owed no one an explanation or excuse for the past. No animosity... No guilt. The Only thing each and everyone left with,was a whole new family tree. How about that? Since then we have become one family.

The Livseys'. The name meaning for "Livsey", is "Protector of the Island". Our origin is from Lanchashire, U.K. It must be true,because my new found cousin,FOUR STAR GENERAL BILL LIVSEY-WAS THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN KOREA. Livseys' lead,apparently.

So,in order to maintain our new family legacy, we want to provide a template for other families,who perhaps share the same last name, even the same progenitor.

We are the Livseys' .

Most importantly, is to advocate and educate.......without hate. The past is gone. The future is from the mold we make today. I am proud of my heritage. You have to understand, you are born into your heritage, your heritage is not born to you.

So I know that there are many families like mind and I hope my struggles and success might help and be used as a template for those who yearn for their complete family history. I urge those who are seriously considering doing a book on your family tree. Get to know your other family from the past.

No apologies needed, just love and understanding. We have before us, an enormous and monumental decision to make. Should we re- main apart or unite the families? We can take a democratic vote,or we can do nothing. We have no obligation, one way or another.

But for our name,we should do the former. Moreover,we would be committing a crime otherwise. It would be a sin against our forefathers, not to set the record straight. Green H. Livsey and Sandy Livsey would roll in their graves if we didn't take this opportunity to do the right thing,now!!!!

It's our DUTY to show the American People the way to a better day.

LIVE TO SEE A BETTER DAY!!! (i.e.LIVSEE)

We are the Livseys'....

PROTECTOR OF THE ISLAND

Sincerely,

Tom Livsey