Howard Charles Lyman 1877-1923

ABOVE: Herbert and Herman Lyman circa 1904.

Famous vaudevillians, Herbert and Howard Lyman, known as The Lyman Twins,  settled in Central Florida in 1913.

Lyman High School was named after Howard Charles Lyman and his wife Emma for their contributions to the Longwood and Altamonte Springs communities.

The 1920 U.S. Population Census of Altamonte Springs, Florida shows Howard C. Lyman, his wife Emmaline, daughter Charlotte (18) and two sons: Howard C. Jr. (3) and Herbert S. (1).Charlotte is the child of Howard’s first wife, Esther Van Brookline, whom he married on 12 July 1901.

Howard C. Lyman died on 7 July 1923 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery Section L lot 12-1 in plots purchased on 18 July 1923 by his brother Herbert Lucius Lyman and Howard’s wife Emma Abbott Lyman.

Kevin Scott Collier, Art Director for the Grand Haven Tribune newspaper in Grand Haven, Michigan and writer of Christian children’s books, is writing a book about the Lyman Twins. This is part of an April 2011 email he sent for inclusion in this post about the Lymans and his forthcoming new book – “The Lyman Twins: Vaudeville Musical Comedy Duo”:

“Herbert and Howard Lyman (and their wives Patti and Emma) loved Florida. The twins got into vaudeville stage performing just before they turned age 20, and while they first went to New York, they lived the southern coast…. These fellas were a HUGE nationwide sensation, I kid you not. They retired from stage in 1911, but if they had been born 15 years later, they’d been in films competing with The Marx Brothers and Charlie Chaplin. As I got into my research months ago I was shocked to see the ONLY real memorial to a “Lyman” was the school there. There’s nothing here, and they grew up here, their father was a famous Captain here. They spent summers here right until close to 1920 when I believe the brothers sold their cottage in Spring Lake, a few miles from here over the bridge.

Herbert almost killed a kid on his way to being a stage star. Herbert and Howard along with other Grand Haven, MI boys used to stage plays in a barn behind Brandstetter’s hardware store and in one play in April 1891 Herbert (playing a wild west lawman) was supposed to shoot “the bad guy” played by Johnny Brandstetter. All these kids were 10-13 years in age. They used a real gun, but some kid forgot to load it with blanks, and Herman shot Johnny… luckily, it was a graze across the forehead… but the barn was full of an audience of kids who ran out of the barn screaming for their lives. This article is included in my book, too.”

Read more about the Lyman Twins.

An article on the death and planned funeral for Howard Charles Lyman was published on the front page of the Orlando Morning Sentinel on 10 July 1923. Mentioned in article: Howard C. Lyman, Dr. W. A. Cooper, First Methodist, Greenwood Cemetery, Elks Lodge, Kiwanas, Kiwanian, Orlando Council 631 of the United Commercial Travelers. No obituary or funeral notice were found.

A front page article about the untimely death of Howard Charles Lyman was published in the Orlando Morning Sentinel on 8 July 1923. Mentioned in the article: Howard Charles Lyman, Armour Fertilizer Company, Guy C. Beach, Howard Lyman, Herbert Lyman, Herbert Lucius Lyman, Lyman Twins, Emma Abbott Lyman, Orlando Kiwanian, Elks Lodge, Altamonte Springs

Explore the Images and Documents below under Attachments.