Floyd, William
Floyd, William
FLOYD, WILLIAM. (1734–1821). Signer. New York. Born in Brookhaven, New York, on 17 December 1734, William Floyd was active in local politics prior to the Revolution. Elected to the Continental Congress, in which he served until 1783, he became colonel of the Suffolk County militia on 5 September 1775. He and his family fled before the British in 1776, and his farm was seized as rebel property. From 1777 to 1783, he was New York state senator by appointment rather than election, for his district was occupied by the British. Though he spent most of the war living with his wife's family in Connecticut, he served on the New York Council of Safety and continued to represent New York in Congress. His most notable service in that body was on the Committee of Secret Correspondence. He was elected to state senate, where he served from 1784 to 1788 and in 1787 and 1789 was a member of the council of appointment. He sat in the first U.S. Congress (1789 to 1791), but lost his re-election bid. In 1801 he attended the New York constitutional convention. Two years later he moved his family to the town of Western, New York, on the Mohawk River, wherehedied4 August 1821.
SEE ALSO Continental Congress.
revised by Michael Bellesiles