His father's sawmill was destroyed by the flood of 1869 and the family left Grafton for Bellows Falls, Vermont, where Lyman attended public schools.

When Lyman was 11 years old his father's health began to fail and the family moved west in hopes the change in climate would help.

He started out as an office boy and by the age of 18 he was a foreman at the state's largest coal mine.

When Lyman was 25 he moved to Easthampton, Massachusetts, where he ran the city's first steam laundry before taking up farming.

[3] In 1934, Lyman broke with the Republican Party, appearing at a Democratic rally and stating that Governor Joseph B. Ely had done well and deserved reelection.