Lawrence, Effingham (1856–1899)

1856–1899

Parents: Effingham Lawrence (1820–1878) and Jane Osgood (1829–1863).
Spouse: Janet Campbell Mickle (1857–1939).
Children: Effingham Lawrence, Jr. (1878–1956) and Anne Mickle Lawrence (1881–1887).
Kinship: First cousin four times removed of the post–World War II Smith generation.

Early Life and Education Effingham Lawrence was born in Bayside, Queens, into a long-established branch of the Lawrence family whose residence in the area extended for nine generations. He attended Yale College and was graduated with the Class of 1877. During his undergraduate years he achieved distinction as an oarsman, and in 1876 rowed as a member of the Yale crew that competed with success in international regattas.

Career and Activities Little is recorded of his professional pursuits after Yale. His family position and inherited responsibilities appear to have occupied much of his adult life. Through birth and marriage he was connected to several notable New York families, including the Osgood and Mickle families.

Later Years and Death He died in 1899 at the Lawrence Homestead in Queens, a property long associated with his branch of the family. His widow, Janet Campbell Mickle, survived him by four decades and maintained the family’s social connections into the early twentieth century.