K,

My layman's response to your question would be any person of color that wasn't enslaved. Simplistic, you bet.

Consider this excerpt from the Slave Narrative of George Pretty, interviewed in Florida:

"George Pretty of Vero Beach and Gifford, Florida, was born a free man, at Altoona, Pennsylvania, January 20, 1852. His father Isaac Pretty was also free born. His maternal grandfather Alec McCoy and his paternal grand-father George Pretty were born slaves who lived in the southern part of Pennsylvania.

He does not know how his father came to be born free but knows that he was told that from early childhood. In Altoona, according to George, there were no slaves during his life there but in southern Pennsylvania slavery existed for a time. His grand-parents moved from southern Pennsylvania during slavery but whether they bought their freedom or ran away from their masters was never known to George...."

Peace
"Guided by the Ancestors"