William Floyd Estate - Family Cemetery
The William Floyd Estate Family Cemetery - in Mastic Beach, on the south shore of Long Island, NY - holds eight generations of Floyds, from the 1750's to the present day. Sally and I took a ride here yesterday and after a guided tour of the house - which lasted over an hour and ended up being basically a private tour, as it was just the two of us and Kristen, the very knowledgeable guide - we walked the short distance to this two and a half century-old graveyard.
William Floyd was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence; and, as his father died while he was in his teens, he was required to take over the operations of this family farm. His family had emigrated to the United States in 1654; and by the time of his birth, on December 17th in 1734, they were well established - and wealthy.While at one time the estate stretched north to what is today Jericho Turnpike, nearly 3/4's of the way to the north shore of Long Island, the estate today consists of 613 acres, including the 25-room "Old Mastic House" and the cemetery pictured here today.
Photography inside this historic home-site is strictly forbidden, as are pictures showing the interior - even if shot from the outside but through any of the many windows (I know because I specifically asked a park ranger) - as only the exterior of the house is considered to be in the public domain; however, images of windows showing reflections of other buildings on the estate are allowed (which I also asked about, at which point the ranger proudly pulled out his Blackberry to show me a reflection picture he had previously taken). I was relieved to hear this as, prior to the tour. I had already taken some similar shots of my own. Those postings will have to wait however, as tomorrow I want to start posting images I shot just over two weeks ago, from a trip we took to Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Middletown and - eventually - White Lake, New York.
I wanted to get this photo up today because, after our visit out east - and a lovely dinner at what's become our favorite Indian Restaurant, Rangmahal Indian Cuisine in Hicksville, NY (and before watching The Queen, starring Helen Mirren) - I quickly edited today's picture, as I felt certain I had captured a winner of a shot and I couldn't wait to get a good look at it.
Canon
Canon EOS 5D
1/60 second
F/4.0
65 mm
50
Jun 5, 2011, 3:12:06 PM
Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Windows
66m
Canon EOS 5D
1/60 second
F/4.0
65 mm
50
Jun 5, 2011, 3:12:06 PM
Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Windows
66m
