John Floyd was born at Floyds Station in Jefferson County, Kentucky, on 24 April 1783 to John Floyd and Jane Buchanan. Educated at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Floyd was graduated from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1806 while under the care of Dr. Benjamin Rush in Philadelphia. Floyd settled in Christiansburg, Montgomery County, Virginia, where he practiced medicine. Serving as a surgeon in the Virginia Militia from 1807 to 1812, Floyd was later appointed surgeon of Lt. Col. James McDowell's Flying Camp during the War of 1812. Floyd received a commission of major, and was appointed brigadier general of the 17th Brigade.
John Floyd's political career began when he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates to represent Montgomery County in 1814. While only serving one term in the state legislature, Floyd had a long and distinguished tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives where he served from 1817 until 1829. During his time in Congress, Floyd supported President Andrew Jackson's actions in the Great Seminole Debate of 1818-1819, Missouri statehood, and the settling of the Oregon Territory. Following his time in Congress, Floyd was elected as governor of Virginia on 4 March 1830. Floyd served a one-year term and was re-elected to a three-year term as the first governor under the Virginia Constitution of 1829-1830. Floyd's term as governor was noted for its prosperity, but also for the Southampton Insurrection led by the slave Nat Turner on 21 August 1831. During his term as governor, Floyd received all of South Carolina's eleven electoral votes in the Presidential election of 1832 as a result of the Nullification Crisis and that state's discontent with the Tariff of 1828. Floyd suffered a stroke in office, but completed his term of office on 31 March 1834.
John Floyd married Letitia Preston, the daughter of William Preston & Susannah Smith, in 1804. Floyd and his wife had twelve children including John Buchanan Floyd, governor of Virginia from 1849 to 1852 and Secretary of War under President James Buchanan. Floyd died on 17 August 1837 and is buried near Sweetsprings in Monroe County, Virginia. Floyd County, Virginia, was named after John Floyd when the county was created out of Montgomery County on 15 January 1831.
From the guide to the Executive Papers of Governor John Floyd, 1830-1834, (The Library of Virginia)
