William Floyd and the American Revolution

Portrait of William Floyd in front of the Old Mastic House

NPS

While managing the farm and estate, Floyd took a leading role in Suffolk County and Brookhaven Town. He became a Town trustee in 1769, a colonel in the colonial militia, and active in church affairs, giving money and support to the Caroline Church in Setauket and the Fire Place Church in Southhaven, NY. In 1774, he was appointed a representative for New York in the 1st Continental Congress. It was in this capacity that on July 6, 1776, he dared to sign the Declaration of Independence. It was act of treason, and an act that set the country on its path to independent and democratic rule. His granddaughter, Julia Floyd Delafield recounted his story of the signing, "When they were about signing the paper Gen'l Floyd was talking with ---- a man of feeble frame and delicate health. The General was a man of iron nerve and of muscles to match. The man said 'Floyd if we get our necks in a noose for this - you'll kick half an hour after I'm quiet!'"