Larason, William J.

Larason, otherwise known as Larrison and potentially identified as William J. Larason, was famed for his connection to Nick-Nax during his Pfaffian era. Larason was the brother-in-law of Mary A. Levison, wife of Nick-Nax proprietor William Levison, and Frank Cahill’s replacement for the editorship in 1860. Larason boarded with Jesse Haney at a house on 16th Street. He accompanied Haney on a Fort Lee excursion with Thomas Butler Gunn, Richard (Dick) Bolton, and Charles Damoreau. Larason was also later acquainted with George Boweryem. Thomas Butler Gunn’s diaries indicated that Larason quickly became a collaborator of Gunn’s through Nick-Nax. 

However, Larason was forthcoming about his difficulties with the paper: “Larason called, wanting to see Boweryem, about obtaining advertisements for Nick-[N]ax, Mrs. Levison having insisted that he should procure them, or the paper shouldn’t go to press this month. Mrs. L’s little brother-in-law is getting some experience of that lady’s temper, and says, if she was the same in Bill Levison’s time he pities him, that he does! Larason wishes he could get some book-keeping to do, being content then to throw up his present employment” (vol. 14, p. 94). It was not long after Cahill appealed to Larason for Nick-Nax work that Cahill embezzled money from Mrs. Levison. Larason briefly collected payments from Cahill to pay back the debt, but Cahill’s financial security fell through. Mrs. Levison removed Larason from Nick-Nax in 1861.