He and his wife Nancy owned and operated the hotel and tavern as a resort destination for the white sulphur springs nearby.

During the cholera epidemic of 1848–1849 and outbreaks in the early 1850s, residents of Lexington came to the hotel to try to escape the spread of disease in the city.

The hotel and tavern were part of the growth of facilities in the region to house tourists as well as commercial travelers along the major county roads.

[3] The nineteenth century had been marked by periodic outbreaks of epidemics of cholera and other infectious diseases, often carried by travelers on the major river systems.

During the cholera epidemic of 1848–1849 and outbreaks in the early 1850s, people fled Lexington to stay at the Keene Springs Hotel and other outlying facilities.

[2] The hotel is listed among Kentucky historic sites; highway marker #1671 is posted in front on KY 1267 (also known as Keene-Troy Pike to the west of 169 and S. Elkhorn Road to the east).

The building is at the northwest corner of the junction with Kentucky Route 169 (also called Pinchard Pike to the north of KY 1267).

The Lafon family were descended from French Huguenot immigrants, who settled in Virginia in 1700 above the falls of the James River.

In 1858 the Singletons migrated from Kentucky to Texas by wagons, taking with them the ten of their fifteen children still living at home, ranging in age from 23 to 6 years old.