Dr. Daniel Lyman, 1820-1910

Daniel Lyman was the son of Dr. Josiah Lyman. Josiah Lyman moved to Goshen from Vermont in 1816 and became the town's first resident physician. He later also served as Goshen's first postmaster. Josiah practiced medicine in Goshen until 1824, when he moved to nearby Batavia. Son Daniel followed in his father's footsteps and also became a doctor. Daniel graduated from Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati. After marrying, he first practiced in nearby Owensville before moving to Goshen in 1855. 

Daniel Lyman moved with his family into a stately stone house (now the GTHS Museum) and then built a "surgery" on the back. The frame addition of three rooms for a laboratory and office was called a surgery. This was Goshen's first doctor's office. Prior to this, country doctors travelled by horse and buggy to their patients. Patient care often depended on how much equipment and medicine a doctor could fit in his bag. Dr. Lyman's surgery greatly improved patient outcomes.  Visitors to the museum today can see photos of Dr. Lyman and his family and the iron weight Dr. Lyman used to tether his horse when he arrived at a patient’s home. Called a tether weight or pester, this weight was kept in the doctor’s buggy, always ready to secure his horse’s reins on a house call. The restored bank barn at the Cook Log Cabin Heritage Center next to Goshen High School houses a doctor’s buggy similar to that of Dr. Lyman. It was not a comfortable conveyance and provided little protection from inclement weather, but it was light and easily pulled by one horse making it invaluable to a rural doctor who traveled dirt roads at all hours, year round. 

Payment for physician services varied greatly by patient. While most paid Dr. Lyman in cash, others paid for services "in kind" with chickens, eggs, baked goods, etc. 

In the 1890’s, Nelly Robbins Williams sculpted a bust of Dr. Lyman of Goshen. One former resident of Goshen recalled that Miss Nellie would climb onto the roof to wave a red and white tablecloth to summon Dr. Lyman, who lived about a half mile south, to come for a sitting. It is assumed that Dr. Lyman was given the bust Nellie sculpted and possessed it until his death. The sculpture is currently owned by Donn Heywood of Goshen.