He contracted one of the water-borne diseases that was so common at the time.
A CBS NFL Insider
After Mr. Freeman was released from jail in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, he was found dead in the lot of a slaughterhouse. Tom, the policeman who delivered the news of Mr. Freeman's death to Grandmother Baxter (Maya's grandmother), said that it "Seems like he [Mr. Freeman] was dropped there. Some say he was kicked to death."
Roger A. Freeman died in 2005.
Freeman McGilvery died in 1864.
Caroline Freeman died in 1914.
Reg Freeman died in 1955.
Freeman Knowles died in 1910.
William Freeman died in 1595.
Sambrooke Freeman died in 1782.
Chapman Freeman died in 1904.
Edmund Freeman died in 1682.
Orrin Freeman died in 1866.