William Floyd
Born: December 17, 1734
Died: August 4, 1821
Colony/State: New York
Occupation / Public Role: Landowner, legislator, military officer, Congressman
Contribution to the Founding Era: Delegate to the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Revolutionary War militia general, and later a member of the First Congress.
William Floyd was born in Brookhaven on Long Island, New York, and inherited family property at a young age after his father’s death. He did not come out of the lawyer-philosopher lane that produced so many founders. Instead, he rose through the world of landholding, local influence, and public service, which in eighteenth-century America was its own kind of power. The National Archives lists his occupation in 1776 as land speculator, while the U.S. House records his long career in state and national office.
Floyd served in the First Continental Congress in 1774 and in the Second Continental Congress during the Revolution. He signed the Declaration of Independence as one of New York’s four signers. The National Park Service notes that in 1776 he risked losing “family, farm, and life” by attaching his name to the document, and during the war British forces occupied Long Island, forcing his family to flee their home.
He also served in the war itself. The U.S. House states that Floyd was a major general in the New York militia, making him one of those signers who did not just vote and sign, but also took on military responsibility during the struggle for independence.
After independence, Floyd remained active in public life for decades. He served in the Confederation Congress, in the New York senate, and later as a Representative in the First Congress of the United States from 1789 to 1791. In the 1790s he moved to Oneida County, New York, and continued to take part in state politics, including service in the New York constitutional convention of 1801.
William Floyd died in Westernville, New York, in 1821. He is not one of the loudest names among the signers today, but he was one of New York’s key Revolutionary figures: a Continental delegate, militia general, signer, state legislator, and congressman. That is a sturdy founding résumé, even if it does not get the Hollywood treatment.
Related Links
- Signers of the Declaration of Independence
- Declaration of Independence
- Francis Lewis
- Lewis Morris
- Philip Livingston