At the age of 15 he was apprenticed to the local company Griswold & Couch, located in Meriden, Connecticut, to learn pewtersmithery, and worked there until 1844.

On September 5, 1841 William married Roxanne Griswold Frary, a local woman one year older than he was.

Whereas previous can openers were basically variations of a knife, Lyman's design was the first attempt to facilitate the procedure (see picture).

In 1925, a modern-style opener, equipped with an additional serrated wheel, was invented to improve Lyman's design.

[3] His other patents were dedicated to improvements to various household food utensils such as a refrigerating pitcher (1858),[6] fruit can lids (1862),[7] tea and coffee pots,[8] and a butter-dish.