H was only released from house arrest when he agreed, under strong duress, to sign over control of his property and estate to his wife’s executors, Merritt and Ritch.57 Once control of Timothy H’s assets had been secured, the family agreed to drop all accusations. On 26 March, attorney Samuel Fessenden appeared before Judge Finch in the Probate Court in Stamford and, on behalf of his clients, withdrew their original application to have Mr Porter declared insane.58
Timothy H had already married Miss Mabel Earle the previous week. The wedding was solemnized at the rectory of the Episcopal Church at Barrington, Massachusetts, on Friday 16 March 1894.59 The wedding reception took place on 29 March 1894 at the home of Miss Earle’s aunt, Mrs Kellog, of West Avenue in New York.60
The third Mrs Porter was described in several New York newspapers as being accomplished, pretty, well known in society61 and possessing an attractive figure that fascinated Timothy H.62 Mabel’s marriage portion was said to be $25,000 in cash, and she was also given a contract for an undisclosed annual allowance.63 None of the groom’s family was present at the ceremony. The newly wedded couple spent their honeymoon in Boston. One newspaper reported that the couple returned to their new home in Bridgeport, Connecticut, to begin married life,64 but later reports confirmed that they had set up home in Blachley Lodge, much to the consternation of the eldest son, Louis.65
The marriage, however, was not the greatest misfortune that the family had to face. Even greater disaster came to pass when, in July 1894, Timothy H sued his late wife’s executors and the officers who restrained him for $200,000 in damages, for unlawfully imprisoning him and forcing him to sign over the vast bulk of his fortune.66 Thus ensued a legal battle and family feud of a kind that the ultra-conservative citizens of Connecticut had rarely witnessed.
‘The Conspiracy Case’, as it became known, contained layers of sexual intrigue, financial scandal and family hostility that soon made headline news in local and national papers all over the East Coast. The case was tried in the Superior Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, between January 1895 and March 1897.67 The case made by Samuel Fessenden, attorney for the defendants, was described as ‘the most voluminous document ever filed in the Superior Court in this county’.68 Crowds jostled for seats as Timothy H gave evidence against Schuyler Merritt, Thomas Ritch, the officers who restrained him, and his sons who were party to his house arrest.
On 12 January, the greatest thrill of all for the spectators who filled the courtroom was the testimony given by Timothy H. Porter’s young wife, Mabel.69 She was questioned at length about the time she was employed as governess at Blachley Lodge.70 Louis’s accusations were put to her that, instead of tutoring Kingsley, she was spending most of her time ‘cutting up with Mr Porter’. Mabel declared this to be untrue.
‘Is it true,’ she was asked by Mr Fessenden, ‘that you were frequently alone with Mr Porter in his study, with the shades drawn down?’71 Mabel, without hesitation, replied:
There was no truth whatever, to such a statement. The only times that I remember being alone with Mr Porter in his study were when he outlined the plan for Kingsley’s education. I think I was with him about fifteen minutes. On another occasion, when I was about to leave the Lodge, I went to him and saw him in his study. I did not tell him of the shameful treatment accorded me by his sons because I did not wish to create a feeling between them and the father. While we were conversing Louis walked up and down the veranda adjoining the room. I never attempted to screen the room.72
At this point there was a heated exchange between Mr Fessenden, who acted on behalf of the Porter sons, and Judge De Forest, with Mr Fessenden shouting, ‘You act like a wild hyena.’73 Judge De Forest replied: ‘Well, it’s enough to make any man excited to be compelled to listen to such heartless threats by a son against his father.’74
Mabel was then questioned at length about her courtship by Timothy H:
I believe a period of more than two years elapsed between the time I left the Lodge and the occasion of the first proposal. I refused the offer. He repeated it, and I accepted. He wrote me a letter stating that a plan was on foot to have him placed in an insane retreat. Up to that time I had never written endearing letters to him, and what letters I had written were signed by my full name. The letters were simple, and perhaps sympathetic. He had proposed marriage to me, and of course I had more than a friendly interest in him. Before the marriage Mr Porter and I discussed the matter of a marriage settlement. He said he did not wish to have my marriage to him criticized, and he did not want people to say that I had married him for his money. Therefore, to protect me and himself as well, he submitted the ante-nuptial agreement. I was to receive $25,000 and release all claim on his estate. The agreement was drawn up on December 14 1893 and signed by Mr Porter and myself.75
Mabel was also asked about her reception at Blachley Lodge when she arrived there after the marriage ceremony.76 She said that when they arrived they found the doors had been locked against them. They finally found a window open at the rear of the house and they had to scramble in. There was no food for them anywhere in the house and Timothy H finally sent to the village and obtained food that the maid prepared. Mabel then said that she met Louis Porter and he addressed her in an insulting way.
Next morning, when Mabel came down to breakfast with her new husband, Louis was already seated at the table.77 She said he was sitting in his father’s chair and had his arms spread out. There were no chairs set for herself or Mr Porter. She then detailed how Mr Porter had put some bread and cake on a plate but that Louis tried to snatch it from him. During the ensuing struggle Mr Porter fell down and lay on the floor.
The ante-nuptial contract was then produced in court and offered in evidence. It stated that Mrs Porter was to relinquish all dowry rights in her husband’s property for the sum of $25,000.78
Before a verdict on the case had been reached, yet another appalling tragedy struck the Porter family. On 1 August 1895, Blachley Hoyt Porter was killed outright in a bizarre accident when on holiday with his brother, Louis, in Arizona.79 He was just 18 years old. Louis and Blachley had set out two weeks earlier to visit Alaska, via California. By some zany quirk of fate they missed the steamer that would have taken them from San Francisco to Alaska, and instead they joined an exploring group that was on route to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.80 The party and their guides became caught in a thunderstorm in the canyon and sought shelter under a jutting rock. A bolt of lightning struck the rock, shattering it completely and instantly killing Blachley. Louis and the guide were also struck by lightning and were badly burned. The family physician, Dr Lelb, travelled to Arizona to treat Louis and to bring Blachley’s body back to Darien.
The effect on Kingsley and the whole family after such a bizarre and shocking incident can only be conjectured. Kingsley must have been deeply traumatized by his brother’s sudden death. The loss of Blachley, in many ways his closest friend, with whom he had spent countless happy days roaming the countryside, must have been an excruciating blow. As for his father, a former minister and the son of a Baptist preacher, Timothy H must have been acutely aware of the irony that the son who had dragged his name through the courts, and in every manner disobeyed him, had suddenly and inexplicably been smitten down by a bolt of lightning.
As a young teenager, Kingsley began to attend Browning School for boys in New York.81 A rare photo of Kingsley at this age shows him smiling beside a guide, waving his cap in the air and holding up several fish he has just caught. The photo was taken at the boathouse at Saranac Lake, in the heart of the Adirondacks wilderness area, north-east of New York State. The awesome power of nature had captivated Kingsley since childhood. The sea in particular held a fascination for him. Here he could escape from mediocrity by immersing himself in its unfathomable depths. Within
