MR.AUGUSTUS FLOYD Esq. AUGUSTUS FLOYD, Esq. The Floyds are a dignified and noble family, and their lineage bears connection with a proud and haughty people, who flourished during the reign of the warlike George. Back, far back in the past of old England, the same aristocratic blood coursed through veins or men whose illustrious names have been swallowed up in the vortex of time, Augustus is a peculiar looking man. One might travel from Maine to Texas and never meet a face that would closely resemble his. In his face are the fading lineaments of departed nobility. In the Houses of Lords and Commons he would easily appear as a dignitary who had passed from the excitements of parliamentary life into the gold and silver seclusion of an English nobleman's retirement. Mr. Floyd makes a confidante of but few, and he greets strangers with jealous coldness. His connections with the outside world are through reliable agents and men whose family relationship secure his confidence. He was long an honorable practitioner at the New York bar, and a conspicuous luminary among his legal associates. His chronic deafness forced him to exchange the bright prospects of his profession for the quiet sweets of a village delitescency. For many years he was slightly "hard of hearing," but the disease gradually assumed a more aggravating form, and finally culminated in his abandonment of a remunerative and popular profession. Mr. Floyd was born at Mastic, in this town, in 1795, and came to Yaphank in 1849. Mastic is, and was, the
country home of some of the first men of the country.
There Gens. Nathaniel Woodhull and William Floyd,
prominent in revolutionary time- erected homes, and
commuted the grim excitements of the great struggle for
independence, for the rustic enjoyments furnished by the,
shores of the Great South Bay. There lived Col. Floyd,
and there grew up around him a talented and successful
family. Among them the Hon. ' David G. Floyd, a brother
of Augustus, and the popular Judge, John Floyd, another
brother. David G. Floyd and the Hon. William Sidney
Smith, of Mr. Floyd lives a very
retired life in Yaphank, and it is seldom that the
footsteps of a stranger break the routine of his privacy. Men, like Mr. Floyd, who have figured much in the bustling world, always have interesting histories; but, of all men, they are generally the most difficult to approach upon matters connected with their lives, and never endeavor to conceal their hereditary abhorrence of informing the public about their concerns. Their stolid exteriors veil the trials and triumphs of busy intercourse with the world, and the humble and honored are ever minus their experience in the field of enterprise.
He never participates in our village undertakings, never appears at public gatherings, and is seldom seen upon the street. His circle of acquaintances and friends is limited to the members of a few families in highest standing, and he converses freely with but few. To the gentle ones " I would say that Mr. Floyd has never borne Hymen's galling chains, and his days are whiled in "single blessedness." What will establish him more charmingly in their estimation, is the extent of his wealth. , What he is actually worth I have not the authority to declare, and even a hazarding estimation could not be received as satisfactory. It is generally known that his possessions consist principally in money investments, but it is as absolutely unknown to what extent and where invested. In person he is tall, spare, and decidedly unprepossessing. He dresses carelessly, and without artistic taste. He walks with a sweeping gait, looks down at the ground, and pays but little attention to what is transpiring around him. With his books and correspondence he spends the principal portion of his time, and he sups and dines when nature prompts him, be it at midnight or otherwise. He gives but little to charity and his subscriptions to local institutions are seldom marked for their munificence. Mr. Floyd is far down the shady side of life, and for nearly four score years has experienced the alternate clouds and sunshine which form the wormwood and honey of a life. |