Charles Floyd, owner and planter of Walnut Hill Plantation, had been born March 4, 1747 in Northampton County, Virginia, the son of Samuel Floyd and Susanna "Susan" Dixon. His parents both died in Northampton County when he was six. He went to live with his Dixon relatives, but three years later his uncle indentured the 9-year-old to a sea captain as a cabin boy. Charles Floyd spent fourteen years at sea, mainly on vessels in the Triangular trade, sailing to ports in Europe, Africa and elsewhere. Floyd then settled at Hilton Head, where he managed an indigo plantation. He married this Floyd's mother, Mary Fendin, in 1768 at St. Helena's Church in Beaufort District. Mary Fendin had been born April 15, 1746 in St. Helena's Parish, South Carolina, the daughter of John Fendin Jr. and Elizabeth Thomas.