“Lyman Alvin Peck, son of Alvah and Dorthea (Hathaway) Peck, was born and raised in Jay, New York. He married Laura Ann Colburn who was born about 1834 in Moriah, New York. Lyman and Laura settled in Vermont to raise their family sometime before 1859. His occupation, as listed by the census, was farming. When the Civil War started, Lyman enlisted into the 6th Vermont Volunteers Company B on February 24, 1862 at Thetford, Vermont. At the time of his enlistment he was described as 5ft. 7in. tall with a dark complexion, black eyes and dark hair. He was also said to have received a tattoo of a naval anchor on the back side of his right hand from a Frenchman who was serving with him in the same unit. This was done shortly before the 7 Day Battles which took place from June 25th to July 2nd 1862 near Richmond, Virginia. While serving with this unit, Lyman contracted the measles which totally disabled him and caused heart disease. he also contracted rheumatism from extreme exposure. Because of these disabilities, he was medically discharged from the Mount Pleasant Hospital in Washington, D.C. on September 12, 1862. Several months later Lyman enlisted again, this time into the 4th Vermont Volunteers Company C on August 23, 1863 at Thetford as a substitute for Joseph Hauscome who was drafted. Substitutes being paid to serve in place of the person who was drafted at that time was a common and acceptable practice. While serving with the 4th Regiment, Lyman received a gunshot wound to his left hand at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia on May 5, 1864. He again was sent to Mount Pleasant Hospital in Washington, D.C. After a couple of weeks he was then transferred to Patterson Park Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. While recuperating from his injury he was detailed as a nurse until about September 1864. He then received a 30 day furlough to go home. Upon his return to Baltimore he found no one from his company so he and 400 others who were in the same situation reenlisted or were transferred into Company F of the 91st New York Volunteers and sent to Petersburg, Virginia for the final siege. Lyman was honorably discharged from this company near Washington, D.C. at the close of the war on June 10, 1865.

Upon his return home, Lyman continued farming in order to support his family. His wife Laura died of consumption on March 30, 1877. Months later, Lyman met and married Mary Jane Pierce, the daughter of Ebenezer Fales and Betsy Ann (Luce) Pierce, who was born in Royalton, Vermont in 1847. The ceremony was officiated by Reverend M.E. Stickney in Royalton. Mary Jane’s uncle, Hosea, was said to have sold all his land in Royalton in 1839 and moved some time after to Salt Lake City, Utah to join the Mormons. Because of this and the fact that Lyman had married into the Pierce family, he was recorded in the book of baptisms and confirmations for the dead on December 23, 1937 as a relative by marriage to Joseph Smith the prophet who was the founder of the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints.

On October 8, 1877 while living in Royalton, Lyman broke into the Royalton Bank house for the purpose of stealing money from the drawer of the counter while the cashier was at dinner. The money he was after had been safely locked away in the vault where he could not obtain it. He was captured, tried and sentenced to 5 years in the state prison at Windsor, Vermont for his luckless exploit. After his release in April 1882, eh lived with his daughter Estella and her husband til about September. He then got into more trouble, but was later cleared of all charges. Lyman never returned to his second wife Mary Jane after his release from prison nor did he ever file for divorce. At the time it was said that Mary Jane was pregnant with the child of someone else.

Lyman then met Almina J. Coats, who was from Ascot Corners in Canada. He married her, under the assumed name of Frank Doubly, on March 17, 1883. The ceremony was officiated by Reverend M. Wild in Newport, Vermont. Lyman and his 3rd wife Almina moved to Sherbrooke, Canada in the Province of Quebec where they spent the rest of their lives. He applied for and received a pension about 1896 from the Government of the United States for his service during the Civil War. He was dropped from the pension rolls in 1904 because his 2nd wife Mary Jane was trying to claim a widow’s pension due to the fact that she had not heard from him in over 20 years, and by law he was classified as legally dead. After both parties were investigated, it was probably decided the pension be split between the two parties since Mary Jane and Lyman were never legally divorced.”96

In 1850, he was living with brother Dillavan in Wilmington, age 17, a laborer.145