David Gelston Floyd (1802-1893) & the Floyd Family
The Floyds were descendants of William “Tangier” Smith (1654-1704), the first Lord of the Manor of St. George, located in Mastic. The manor, which included over 64,000 acres of land, included most of present day Brookhaven township. The great wooden manor house that still stands there today was the third and final manor to be built on the site. In 1718 a portion of the Manor of St. George, roughly 4,000 acres was cut off and was sold to Richard Floyd, whose son Nicoll Floyd, created a prosperous plantation there. After the sudden death of Floyd and his wife in 1755, their 20-year-old son, William took over the property. The Floyd manor house, constructed in the 1720’s, was greatly expanded and modernized by William Floyd after the Revolutionary War.
The Floyd Manor House in Mastic William Floyd (1734-1821)
William Floyd (1734-1821) served as major general in the State militia and as a member of the Continental Congress from 1774-1776 and 1779-1783. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and served in the State senate in 1777-1778 and again in 1784-1788. During the war, like most Long Islanders, Floyd and his family fled north to Connecticut. In 1783, after the British retreat from Long Island, the family returned to Mastic. He was elected as an anti-administration candidate to the First Congress (March 4, 1789-March 3, 1791) and was an unsuccessful candidate for re-election to the Second Congress in 1790. He first moved to Westernville, Oneida County in 1794 and ran as an unsuccessful candidate for New York lieutenant governor in1795. Floyd was a delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1801 and served again as a member of the State senate in 1808. He moved permanently in 1803 to Westernville and died there in 1821. His Long Island estate was given to his son Colonel Nicoll Floyd III (1762-1852), who saw service during the war of 1812. Nicoll Floyd III married Phoebe Gelston (1771-1836), daughter of The Honorable David Gelston (b. 1744), collector of the port of New York, and had several children, including a son who was born on the estate of his grandfather William and whom they named David Gelston Floyd.
David Gelston Floyd
David Gelston Floyd (1802-1893) spent his youth with his two grandfathers, first traveling to Westernville, N.Y. with his grandfather William and then working under the watchful eye of grandfather David Gelston in New York City. Later he moved to Sag Harbor and then to Greenport, where the railroad completed building its eastern terminus in 1840. Floyd relocated to the young village to take advantage of the railroad, the few restrictions on mercantile ventures, and the protected, deep water harbor. There he partnered with a relative and opened a ship chandlery (Floyd & Skillman) that was successful from the start. He branched into various whaling and other shipping interests, and would serve prominently in the Custom House of New York where his grandfather had served many decades before. From 1845 through 1859 his own “personal” whaling fleet, including the ships Italy, Pioneer, and Prudent, added to his financial success. Floyd served as president of the National Bank of Greenport and was a director of the People’s National Bank also of that village. He served as a member of the State legislature in 1856 and was always known as a staunch democrat. During his lifetime David Gelston Floyd amassed a fortune estimated to be in excess of $400,000.