A city policeman named Kneval began conducting night inspections of Lanson's hotel and boarding houses. Usually finding nothing amiss, one night Kneval found a young woman in bed with a sailor, and Lanson was soon charged with keeping a disorderly house. There was also feeling against Lanson from the White community because Blacks and Irish lived together in some of his properties. Lanson was known to enjoy card-playing, which at that time was illegal, and he enjoyed a drink, in a time when reform societies were calling for prohibition. He was jailed 5 times in six years, on petty charges, and spent 450 days in jail. In the end, Lanson lost everything, and in 1851 died in the almshouse in his 70’s.Harris, in African American Connecticut Explored, 98-99.
