Lyman Turner was born around 1823 in New York, probably to Henry and Lydia Turner. His father was a farmer who owned $800 of real estate in 1850. By 1850, he was working as a peddler in Amboy, New York. He married a woman named Mary around 1849, and they had at least six children: George, born around 1850; Charles, born around 1858; Lirey, born around 1860; Sherman, born around 1863; John, born around 1867; and Leafy, born around 1869. They moved to Coffins Grove, Iowa, around 1868, and Turner worked as a farmer there. By 1870, he owned $1,000 of real estate and $670 of personal property. He died in Iowa on November 23, 1894.