Lyman Family

The Lymans were a family of early Oregon settlers who were active in missionary, educational and literary activities. The elder Reverend Horace Lyman was born in 1815 in East Hampton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Williams College and obtained a graduate degree from Andover Theological Seminary in 1846. He left for the West Coast under the auspices of the American Home Missionary Society. Together with his wife, Mary Denison of Vermont, he made the long journey to San Francisco by ship. After spending about one year teaching in San Jose, California, fellow Congregationalist missionary George Atkinson invited him to Oregon. The Lymans arrived in Portland in 1849, founding the city's First Congregational Church there. Horace Lyman served as the church's first pastor, and also founded another church and school near Dallas, Oregon. In 1857, the Lymans moved to the town of Forest Grove on the invitation of Sidney H. Marsh, who was the president of Pacific University. Reverend Lyman taught ancient history, mathematics, English literature and rhetoric there for about twenty years. Mary Denison Lyman died in 1874, and Reverend Lyman followed her in 1887.

Horace and Mary Denison had several children. William Denison Lyman, was born in 1852. He graduated from Pacific University in 1873 and taught there from 1877-1887. He later became a professor at Whitman College and published several books. The bulk of William Denison Lyman's papers are preserved at Whitman College.

Another son, Horace Sumner Lyman was born on December 18, 1855. A childhood malady required him to use crutches throughout his life. After graduating from Pacific University in 1878 with a classical education, Horace S. Lyman went to study at Oberlin College, and then returned to Portland, Oregon. He worked as a pastor, an author, and an educator. Among his writings were the four-volume "History of Oregon" and portions of "The History of Oregon and its Indian Wars." He was a newspaper editor in Portland from 1885-1889. After 1889, he lived on a farm in Clatsop County and served as its superintendent of schools. He died after a short illness on December 22, 1904. Additional papers of Horace Sumner Lyman can be found in the Denver Public Library Archives.

The Lymans had two other recorded children: Sarah, born about 1851; and Mary Frances, born about 1858. Sarah appears not to have married and her occupation is unknown. Mary Frances graduated from Pacific University in 1878 and married, becoming Mary Frances McCoy.