Son of Bradish Johnson and Louisa Anna Lawrence, husband of Amy Rowan Scott, the daughter of James Scott and Sarah Antoinette, whom he married on November 20, 1889 in Grace Church in Manhattan, NY, and father of Amy Bradish Johnson (married Herbert Groesbeck, Jr.).

In 1870, Effingham Johnson, aged 10, was living in New York City, NY, in the home of his widowed father, Bradish Johnson, aged 58, with siblings, George Johnson, aged 25, Bradish Johnson, aged 19, Louisa Johnson, aged 22, Sarah Johnson, aged 20, Lena Johnson, aged 15, Henry Johnson, aged 16, Maggie (Johnson) Whitney, aged 24, and her husband, Stephen Whitney, aged 27, and their daughter, Louisa Whitney, aged 4. Also living in the household were the household staff; Annie Smith, 26, domestic servant, Mary Mellen, 30, domestic servant, Albert Freeman, 40, waiter, William Davis, 39, coachman, Mary Norton, 30, domestic servant, Augusta Metz, 26, domestic servant, and Ann McGinn, aged 43, domestic servant. His father was shown to be a sugar refiner.

Obituary - The remains of Effingham L. Johnson, who died about two months ago at Cannes, France, were taken to Bay Shore on Tuesday morning and interred in a newly made vault at Oakwood Cemetery. Mrs. Johnson and her child will remain in Bay Shore for a time and then go to New Orleans, La.

Death Record - Department of State, Washington, D.C., March 18, 1897- Information has been received at this Department from Mr. Wilburn B. Hall, the Consul of the United States at Nice, of the death on the 13th of February, 1897, at Cannes, France, of Effingham Lawrence Johnson, aged 37, a native of New York City.

After his death, his widow remarried to William Graves Bates on January 3, 1899 in Manhattan, New York.

(1870 US Federal Census; Effingham L Johnson in the New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866-1937; Amy Rowan Scott in the New York Times, Obituaries & Marriage Notices, 1889; U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 for Effingham L Johnson, Passport Applications, 1795-1905, 1888-1890, Roll 312 - 10 Jul 1888-31 Jul 1888Suffolk County News (Sayville), Friday, April 02, 1897, Page: 1; Effingham Lawrence Johnson in the Reports of Deaths of American Citizens Abroad, 1835-1974; Amy R Johnson in the New York, New York, Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937, Certificate Number: 230; Alabama, Surname Files Expanded, 1702–1981 for Amy Rowan Scott, Bass - Bates)