The students of the Radical University: Morris Seabrook

Morris James Seabrook (b. August 7, 1847, d. December 3, 1930)
South Carolina.  Mulatto.
Occupation: blacksmith, butler, minister, soldier.

Morris Seabrook was born in Charleston County in 1847 to unknown parents.  In 1865 (when he was 18 years old), he was living in Charleston and working as a butler.  In May of that year, he enlisted in the Union army.  He was made a private in Company A of the 35th United States Colored Infantry Regiment.  He enlisted as the Civil War was coming to an end.  One month earlier Robert E. Lee had surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, an event traditionally regarded as bringing the war to an end.  Morris served in the army for one year and was discharged in Charleston.

After leaving the army, Morris moved North, and by 1869, he was working as a blacksmith in New Haven, Connecticut.  He returned to South Carolina and was living in Columbia by 1872.

Morris appears to have been illiterate in 1865 as he marked his enlistment papers with an "X" rather than with his signature. However, he evidently received an education after the Civil War as he is listed as literate in the 1870 U.S. Census.

Morris continued his education after returning to South Carolina.  At some point between February 1875 and January 1876, Morris enrolled as a student at the University of South Carolina.  He was a college student following the modern studies track.  The university closed before he completed his degree.

After the university closure, Morris moved to North Carolina and enrolled at Biddle University (now Johnson C. Smith University).  University records are incomplete.  It appears he entered Biddle in Fall of 1877 or 1878 and was a student in the English and Normal Departments (which focused on teacher training).  He likely remained in those departments until 1881 when was admitted into the Theological Department.  He completed his theological training in 1883.

The year after he completed his education at Biddle University (in 1884), Morris was ordained in Presbyterian church.  Morris spent most of his adult life living in Sumter and working as a Presbyterian minister.  He organized and served a number of churches in Sumter Country (namely New Haven, Mt. Sinai, Wedgefield, and Shiloh and Good Hope).

Around 1921 or 1922 (when he in his 70s), Morris moved to North Carolina, living in Charlotte and in Cumberland County.  Morris died in 1930. He is buried in Brookside Cemetery in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Morris's son James Ward Seabrook was an educator who served as president of Fayetteville State Teachers College (now Fayetteville State College) for over 20 years.  The Seabrook family papers are held by the college.

Sources
1). New Haven, Connecticut, City Directory, 1869

2). 1870; Census Place: New Haven Ward 1, New Haven, Connecticut; Roll: M593_109; Page: 80B

3). 1900; Census Place: Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; Page: 7

4). 1910; Census Place: Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; Roll: T624_1465; Page: 4A

5). 1920; Census Place: Sumter, Sumter, South Carolina; Roll: T625_1713; Page: 17A

6). 1930; Census Place: Cross Creek, Cumberland, North Carolina; Page: 10A

7). "Morris J. Seabrook" in Robinson, Edgar Sutton.  The Ministerial Directory of the Ministers in the Presbyterian Church.  Vol. 1.  Armstrong & Fillmore, Ohio.  (1898).

8). Compiled Military Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served with the United States Colored Troops: Infantry Organizations, 31st through 35th.  The National Archives.  Publication Number: M1992.  Nara Catalog Id: 300398.  Record Group: 94.  Roll: 0080.

9). Catalogue of Biddle University [1878-1879].  Pittsburgh, PA.

10). Presbyterian Board of Publication, Minutes of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of American. New Series, Vol. VI.  S. W. Green's Son, New York (1881). p. 642