Suffolk County, New York, declared December 17th William Floyd Day. According to Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine, William Floyd was the only Long Islander to sign the Declaration of Independence and his birthday should be commemorated every year.
He was also the largest slaveholder in Brookhaven. Floyd’s estate was at Old Mystic near present day Mystic Beach is operated by the National Park Service. There is also a contested seven-foot-tall statue of William Floyd at the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Montauk Highway in nearby Shirley, NY.
The decision to honor Floyd is part of the lead in to the July 4, 2026 celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
William Floyd (1734-1821) was not in fact the only Long Islander to sign the Declaration of Independence. The other signer was Francis Lewis (1713-1802) who lived in Whitestone, Queens County.
The whole affair is illustrative of the debate over how American history should be understood at the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and how its meaning should be remembered and taught in schools.
Both William Floyd and Francis Lewis were slaveholders and there is evidence that Lewis was involved with the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
According to the 1790 Federal Census, William Floyd “owned” 14 enslaved Africans and was the largest slaveholder in Brookhaven in Suffolk County. Although New York State passed a gradual emancipation act in 1799, on the 1820 census Floyd still reported being a slaveholder.
Floyd died in 1821 and his will passing most of his property to his wife and son Nicoll did not free his six remaining slaves. They remained enslaved until slavery was officially abolished in New York in 1827. (Next year marks that anniversary.)
Research by the National Park Service has identified a burial plot for enslaved Africans on the William Floyd Estate and recovered the names of some of the people enslaved by Floyd:
Dick, Lydia, Tiss, Bun, Ebo, Peter, Phebe, Elijah, Jin, Hagar, Harry, Rachel, Abby, London, Hector, Rueben, Lew, Lun, Charles, Rose, Pomp, Isaac, Lil, Ben, Phillip, Hannah, Richard, Sarah, Sam, Charity Ann, Cyrus, Caesar, Ann, and Benny.
In 2020 there were protests in Shirley and an online petition demanding the removal of the William Floyd statue. According to protest organizer Monique Fitzgerald of Bellport, “There was no good slave owner. I’m tired of that narrative being pushed.”
Illustration: Detail from a portrait of William Floyd by Robert Ealre in front of his estate in Old Mastic (Independence Hall).
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