Palm Beach-Broward County FlArchives Biographies.....Lyman, Morris Benson 1841 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/flfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 12, 2008, 9:33 pm Author: B. F. Johnson (1909) Morris Benson Lyman Among the substantial business men of the East Coast, Morris B. Lyman, head of the M. B. Lyman Company, at Lantana, and Treasurer of Stranahan and Company, at Fort Lauderdale, appointed Treasurer of Palm Beach County July 26, 1909 by Gov. Albert W. Gilchrist, holds an honorable position. Like many of the prominent business men of the State, he comes from another section, being a native of Canada, born in Bosanquet township, Lambton county, Ontario, on September 22, 1860, son of Morris K. and Rachel Lyman. At the time of his birth his father was teaching school at Port Franks, where our subject was born, but he moved away at the completion of that term, and for several years taught elsewhere in the same section. The Lyman family has a long and honorable history in New England since 1620. Unlike a multitude of American people, who have neglected to keep up with their family history, the Lymans have a clear-cut record for ten generations back. The American family dates back to Richard Lyman, of High Ongar, England, who lived from 1580 to 1640. Then comes Richard Lyman second, of Northampton, Mass., 1617 to 1662; then Richard Lyman third, of Lebanon, Conn., 1647 to 1708; then Isaac Lyman, of Suffield, Conn., 1682; Benjamin Lyman, of Bolton, N. Y., 1734 to 1799; Benjamin Lyman second, of Kitley, Canada, 1761 to 1846; Barnabas Lyman, of Kitley, Canada, 1784 to 1865; Robert F. Lyman, of Kitley, Canada, 1811 to 1894; Morris Lyman, of Georgetown, Canada, 1836 to 1909; Morris B. Lyman now of Lantana, born in i860. Morris B. Lyman is therefore in the tenth generation from Richard Lyman of England and founder of the family. It will be noted in this record that the later generations lived to a much greater age than the earlier ones, due partly, possibly, to a more suitable climate, and partly to improvements in sanitation and medical science during the last few generations. Mr. Lyman's early education was obtained in the section in which he was born, and between the years 1872 and 1876 he divided his time between school and serving in a store then conducted by his father. The business was not successful, and after winding up his affairs in 1876, in February, 1877, he moved to the undeveloped country in the northern part of Ontario, known as the Muskoka district. Young Lyman took up the trade of carpenter along with that of boat building, and followed that until July, 1883, when the family moved to Michigan. The weather being very severe in that section, a growing predilection for the South overmastered Mr. Lyman, so about the tenth of December he headed for Birmingham, Ala., but before arriving there changed his mind and went on to Jacksonville. In June 1884, he sailed on the schooner Bessie B. from Jacksonville for Lake Worth. After going through a very heavy gale of three days' duration, the wind being so severe as to throw a fifty pound grindstone off the deck, they arrived safely at Lake Worth. They could not get over the bar, and ran down to where Palm Beach now stands. The first six months of his residence was spent with Mr. A. Geer, and his time was occupied in building Delmore Cottage for Mr. R. B. Moore. In the fall of that year he erected the frame of the first store building on Lake Worth for the firm of Brelsford Brothers. He then took passage for Jacksonville, and through several changes of vessels arrived in Jacksonville in four days, then considered a remarkably quick trip. After the usual hard experiences of the newcomer, Mr. Lyman had fallen into pretty steady work. His father joined him that first winter, and later on the rest of the family came down from Michigan. In December, 1884, he returned to Marlett and married Miss Mary A. Beltz, on Christmas eve. They returned to Jacksonville, and he worked in that city at his trade until 1886, when he again went to Lake Worth, as a general utility man for Brelsford Brothers. 1887 found him again in Jacksonville, employed as a wood worker on various contracts. When yellow fever was declared epidemic, on August 9, 1888, he, with his wife and two children, went down to Mayport, where he camped for twenty-one days, and through the kindness of the port doctor was enabled to get health papers and go on to Lake Worth. After much trouble with the health officers and many delays, they arrived at Lantana on September 22, 1888. They had no house to live in, the home occupied by his father and brother being too small for the family then in it. Through the kindness of the Rev. Pat Lemon, he secured a small amount of lumber and built his own house, using pine poles for a frame and cabbage palmetto for a roof. Mr. Lyman immediately obtained work in the line of his trade, and in December went into Lake Worth post office, where he took charge of the rebuilding of the steamer Lake Worth owned by Capt. N. D. Hendrickson, which he had built first in 1886. He spent several months on this job, then finding that the firm of Brelsford Brothers wanted to sell their schooner, the Bessie B. he bought this schooner and took up the run between Lake Worth and Jacksonville. This business was a success from the start, as he remembers his only light load was the first one. They ran regular trips during the season, making the trips in from fifteen to twenty days. On one of his trips down, they were caught inside the bar, and were closed in by the sand drifting, which was a serious matter. It took the united strength of the community and a spell of very hard work to get the inlet reopened, which did not occur until January, when the freighting business was resumed. In the summer of 1889 he engaged in mercantile business on a small scale, at Lantana, being the third mercantile establishment on Lake Worth. This is the business now running under the style of the M. B. Lyman Company, Incorporated, dealers in general merchandise, fertilizers, crate material and paper. They have a capital of $25,000 paid in, and are doing a large volume of business. The other firms have long since retired from business, and the M. B. Lyman Company, one of the pioneer concerns, still grows and prospers. It would be very interesting if space permitted to enter into a great many of the lesser details of the experiences of this hardworking and enterprising man. His twenty-five years in Florida have been years of constant and incessant labor, and to this may be attributed largely the measure of substantial success which has come to him. He has been ready to turn his hand to anything, from the building of a boat to the running of a freight line, from the selling of merchandise to the building of his own house with his own hands. In addition to his industry, he has been quick to see an opportunity and ready to grasp it. The Lyman family have in him a most worthy representative, who has lived up to the best traditions of the family, which during the past ten generations gave to our country and Canada some of their best citizens. He now has a family of five sons and one daughter, all of whom are Floridians born, and who it cannot be doubted will maintain in a creditable manner the family name. They are: George G., born June 4, 1886; Edgar B., August 13, 1887; Arthur R., April 20, 1889; Walter H., May 28, 1891; Frank B., June 10, 1895; Rachel M., January 19, 1901. Additional Comments: Extracted from: FLORIDA EDITION MAKERS OF AMERICA AN HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY AN ABLE CORPS OF WRITERS VOL. III. Published under the patronage of The Florida Historical Society, Jacksonville, Florida ADVISORY BOARD: HON. W. D. BLOXHAM COL. FRANK HARRIS HON. R. W. DAVIS SEN. H. H. McCREARY HON. F. P. FLEMING W. F. STOVALL C. A. CHOATE, SECRETARY 1909 A. B. CALDWELL ATLANTA, GA. COPYRIGHT 1909 B. F. JOHNSON Photo: http://www.usgwarchives.net/fl/palmbeach/photos/bios/lyman79gbs.jpg File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/fl/palmbeach/bios/lyman79gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/flfiles/ File size: 8.4 Kb