Wiman was born in Churchville, Upper Canada (now part of Ontario) on April 21, 1834 only son of Erastus Wyman and Therese Amelia née Matthews.

[2] Wiman's first job was at the North American in Toronto (not to be confused with the Philadelphia-based paper) at age 16, as an apprentice printer for a salary of $1.50 a week for his first cousin Hon.

As the president of the Staten Island Railway Co. and the St. George Ferry to Manhattan, Wiman pushed to make the borough the center of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's New York operations, and was also involved in one of the early proposals to connect Staten Island to the other four boroughs of the city via a rail tunnel.

[2][3][5] Wiman later constructed an amusement park near St. George Ferry Terminal, and purchased the Metropolitan Baseball Club which he relocated to the neighborhood.

[1] Wiman had four sons, Henry, William who married Anna Deere-a granddaughter of John Deere,[7] and niece of architect Merton Yale Cady.