Large Family Paves the Way
For 57 years he has watched the face of Pooler change dramatically.
George Seabrooks was born and raised in a sturdy brick house catty-corner to the property he now resides off Wildcat Dam Road in Pooler. He was one of fourteen children raised by Daniel and Bessie Seabrooks in a time when Pooler was nothing more than a secluded neighborhood hidden, yet convenient to Savannah.
“Pooler was unique,” says George. “It was isolated, but Savannah was highly accessible when you needed something our little community didn’t have.”
The Seabrooks family was a hard working family that raised livestock on their small farm while their father, Daniel, worked as a logger - harvesting pulp wood for Savannah Paper Mill Union Camp.
“My father was a multi-tasker,” said George. “He did a lot of different things. When you have 14 children to raise, I guess you have to be good at many different things.”
He was good. All fourteen of the Seabrooks children graduated from high school, and all, who wanted, had the opportunity to go to college. “I think that is a testament to the way we were raised,” said George.
Excerpt from book Growing Up In Pooler: Danny Seabrooks and his wife, Bessie Seabrooks, had 14 children. They learned hard work at an early age and all of them finished high school and some went on to college. Danny Seabrooks was no doubt largely responsible for the establishment of the community along The Seaboard. He built many homes and was responsible for adding modern conveniences, such as indoor plumbing and electricity. Danny was instrumental in building a church and a school in his community. Danny’s wife, Bessie died in 1978 at age 60. Danny died in 1980 at age 71. Danny will be remembered as an outstanding civic leader, who knew how to use his resources (earned through a lot of hard work), for the betterment of the community.
George attended elementary school in a four-room schoolhouse that originated in Pooler’s first black church, South Valley Baptist Church. He then attended Antioch Middle School before going to Thompkins High School in Savannah where he graduated in 1969. Most black residents in those days attended either St. John Divine Baptist Church, near George’s home today, or South Valley Baptist Church on Pine Barren Road.
Daniel, Jr., May Etta, Eliza, Thomas, Viola, Tyrone, Althea, George, Etma, Burnel, Larry, Sheila, Archie and Walter, ages 79 to 47, still today all live in the greater Savannah area or in New York says George.
America and Pooler were very different back then, yet Seabrooks says, in lieu of the fact that they lived in a segregated society back then, there were highly implemented morals and respect for people as people in Pooler - both black and white.
Today George and his wife, Geresia, reside on the original property acquired by George’s grandfather back in the 1940s. George is retired from the forestry business, but has carried on the spirit of his father, working many different jobs in and around the Pooler community. He and his wife attend church next door to their home at St. John Divine Baptist Church where George is also the Deacon.
So what does this lifelong resident think of Pooler’s recent growth? “Pooler has grown a lot, but it hasn’t grown on me yet,” says George. “Eventually I will accept it. My fondest memories, though, are of my childhood and the camaraderie between families.”
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