 Among his great-uncles were U.S. Representative Samuel Lawrence, New York City Comptroller John L. Lawrence, and U.S. Representative William T. Lawrence.His maternal grandparents were Nicoll Floyd (eldest son of Gen. William Floyd, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence) and Phoebe (née Gelston) Floyd (a daughter of David Gelston, the Collector of the Port of New York under Presidents Jefferson, Madison and Monroe).As a child, his family moved from Watkins Glen to New York City to live.