I wanted to bring something to the attention of readers of this site: While a US Marine Officer, I began doing some research towards a Masters degree on the foundation of the Continental Marine Corps and noticed that there were two Marines on the pay muster for a Continental ship (I "believe" it was the Virginia) referred to as Isaac Negro and the other was Abraham Negro. The interesting note is that they were paid at the same exact rate as white marines and subsequently had the same types of duties.

Thought you might find that interesting. I will look through some records and see if I can nail down the vessel (I might be confusing it and the Virginia might have been a Frigate built in Baltimore and captured before she could break the British Naval blockade of the Chesapeake)

Semper Fi,

Sean