Greenleaf is listed among the oldest communities in Tate County. The name Greenleaf was derived from a green grove which grew at the site of the original settlement. Greenleaf is located eleven miles NE of Coldwater in the northeastern section of Tate County. Greenleaf, Mt Manna and Palestine communities are very closely linked in religious and social affairs.

Baptist and Methodist churches are found in the community. The Greenleaf United Methodist Church was organized in 1852. The land for the church building was deeded to  the trustees in 1853 by William Kavanaugh Thweatt and his wife Mary Wilder Thweatt. The first Trustees were Josiah Greer, Nathan Davis, Lemuel Aldridge, William M Richardson, George Hardin, Harris O Allen, and William K Thweatt. The Greenleaf Cemetery was organized in 1853. The Thweatts also deeded land for the cemetery, which is located directly across the road from the Methodist Church building. In 1962 Newton Dix and his wife Myrtle Greer Dix deeded additional land for the cemetery. William Kavanaugh Thweatt also served as the Justice of the Peace for the Greenleaf area. The church was rebuilt in 1954 on the original site but faced north.