In the 1790 and 1800 Federal Census records, Charles Francis is listed as heading a household of 4 free People of Color. Ten years later, in the 1810 Census, there is no Charles Francis. Instead, there appears a Charles Peach in a household of 2 free People of Color. These two men are likely the same person.
According the Marblehead Vital Records, “Charles Francis (a Blackman) [was] shot by the Centry” and died on August 4, 1814. The same record lists Marblehead as his place of burial. Multiple newspapers report on this death, though they refer to the man as 80-year-old Charles Peach. News of Charles’ death reached as far as Boston and Newburyport. The articles report that “a black man named Charles Peach…was returning with his fiddle from a party he had been playing for, and being hailed [by the sentry] he gave a direct answer, and was permitted to proceed. Soon after, he was again hailed, three times, when he gave no answer; he was then required to stand, but continued advancing towards the sentry, who then fired, and the ball passed through his body; he lingered about four hours, and expired.”
Bibliography:
1790 United States Census for Marblehead
1800 United States Census for Marblehead
1810 United States Census for Marblehead
Boston Daily Advertiser, July 21, 1814.
Charles Francis, Jr., Certificate 70, Registers of Seamen’s Protection Certificates, Mystic Seaport Museum, https://research.mysticseaport.org/databases/protection/.
Marblehead, Early Vital Records of Massachusetts: From 1600 to 1850, https://ma-vitalrecords.org/.
Marblehead Town Records, familysearch.org.
Newburyport Herald and Country Gazette, August 12, 1814.
New-England Palladium, August 5, 1814.
Salem Gazette, August 5, 1814.
1790 census
1800 census
1810 census
Boston Daily Advertiser, July 21 1814, man shot by sentry
Death 1814
Death and burial, 1814
Newburyport Herald, August 12, 1814
New-England Palladium, August 5, 1814 Charles Peach shot by sentry
Marblehead Messenger, February, 24, 1905
Salem Gazette, August 5, 1814