Early Life and Family Background The path to Effingham’s marital happiness was strewn with nettles from the very beginning. He was born into the well-connected Lawrence–Mickle circle of New York, with every social expectation of a smooth and prosperous life.

Courtship and Broken Engagement During an on-and-off engagement, Jennie Kingsland Travis in 1886 sued Mr. and Mrs. James Winslow for $20,000, claiming that Mrs. Winslow had written to Effingham Edward, “saying that Miss Travis was not a fit person to enter the Lawrence family.” Mrs. James Winslow was also a Lawrence, the daughter of William Lawrence, the uncle of Edward Effingham. The Winslows denied writing any letter and denied any attempt to influence Effingham Edward. The supposed letter concerned the long visit of Jack Kingsland, a relative of the Travises, to the Travis house in Great Neck.

The Niantic Club Incident (1887) The following year, 1887, Effingham Edward was involved in a scene at the Niantic Club. Flushing at that time was rural and had many estates. When business detained them late in New York, prominent men of Flushing would often dine late at the Club.

At the beginning of July 1887, Effingham Edward and some friends arrived late at the Club and ordered dinner. The soup showed up in a reasonable time. But after another lapse, instead of the ordered bluefish, all that showed up was “a diminutive dish of asparagus.” The diners wanted an explanation. The steward arrived at their table and explained that two club members were in residence, and that they must receive their dinner before other members could be served. The hungry diners looked up and were not fed. They began using strong language.

For this they were brought before the governing committee of the Club, which asked questions that Effingham found offensive. The committee suspended Effingham and his friends for conduct unbecoming a gentleman. Some members objected to this and sought an injunction from the Supreme Court of Brooklyn to show why the suspension should not be revoked. After a few weeks, everything seems to have been settled.

The Cook and the Niantic Club Riot Meanwhile, at the Niantic Club, the cook who had been involved in the original controversy was the 200-lb. Kate O’Connor, who was an excellent cook but who had, as the paper put it, “a taste for strong waters.” The steward who had handled the irate Effingham saw Kate was intoxicated and fired her, telling her she must leave tomorrow. She responded, “The devil I must. Who is going to make me? Take that and that!”

“So saying, she picked up a dish and a gravy bowl and flung them” at the steward. He and the rest of the staff fled.

“Huroo!” said she, as “she swept a couple of dozen dishes from the dresser and hammered them to pieces with a saucepan. ‘Hurooo!’” The local gendarmerie arrived and with difficulty hauled her off.

Marriage and Scandal In the meanwhile, the Effingham marriage was not going well, but it was not the wife’s behavior that caused the trouble.

Within a year of their marriage in St. Bartholomew’s Church, clouds descended. While Effingham was out, an intoxicated woman called on his wife at the Twenty-Second Street home, claiming that she was the real Mrs. Effingham Lawrence. Jennie’s father had detectives follow Effingham, and they soon had proof of his infidelity.

Jennie sued for absolute divorce; Effingham made a general denial and said she had condoned his behavior. In 1889 Jennie was granted an absolute divorce and resumed her maiden name.

In 1891 she married her cousin Albert Kingsland, the son of the former mayor of New York, apparently the man whose visits to his cousin had set off the first contretemps.