Caesar Frye

Quick Facts

Significance:

Patriot of Color at the Battle of Bunker Hill

Place of Birth:

Andover, Massachusetts(?)

Place of Death:

Andover, Massachusetts

Date of Death:

September 12, 1820

The following is from the 2004 National Park Service study Patriots of Color researched and prepared by George Quintal:

Caesar Frye was the ‘Negro servant’ of Col. James Frye of Andover (MA).^I

He ‘was with [Col. Frye] at Bunker Hill’, probably serving as the Colonel’s waiter.^II There is no record of any kind listing him in the service.

The 1790 census of Andover lists him as head in a household of three free people of color.^III

‘He lived last down in the Moose country, … near the Shawshin and where it is crossed by a bridge called Boise’s Bridge from a negro Boise about whom I could glean no more.’^IV

Caesar Frye died 12 September 1820 at Andover.^V

Footnotes:

1. Abbot, Charlotte Helen. Early Records and Notes of Andover [MA] Families, ‘Fry-Gilchrist,’ 12.
2. Col. Frye was wounded in the Battle and died of his wounds in Andover in early 1776.
3. United States Census, National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 29 (1790-1850). Index, 1790, Massachusetts, Andover, 64.
4. Abbot, Charlotte Helen. Andover [MA] Families Notes. Manuscript at Andover (MA) Historical Society: 106-124, 422 from recollections of T.C. Frye.
5. Vital Records to 1850. Births, Marriages and Deaths. Vols for most Massachusetts towns, Andover, Deaths, referencing Congregational Church record.

Learn more about Quintal's study.