William P. Lyon

William Phoebus Lyon was born on January 25, 1813 at No. 5 Bayard Street in New York City. From 1819 to 1822 he lived with his father on a farm two miles from Ithaca, New York. In 1822 he returned to New York City for two years only to move to another farm in Haverstraw, New York in 1824. After two years on the farm, his family returned once again to New York City where after a year Lyon became a clerk in a dry goods store working for his uncle Edward Lyon. From October 1828 to February 1829, he studied at a New York high school, after which he became a teacher in the New York schools from February 1829 to May 1832. After studying law in New York from May 1835 to June 1837, Lyon pursued and was unsuccessful in business enterprises in Chicago; Haverstraw, New York; and New York City. On April 15, 1834, Lyon married Harriet Wood and on May 29, 1835, the couple had a son, William Roscoe.

William P. Lyon is most noteworthy as the founder and senior principal of the Irving Institute, located in North Tarrytown, New York. In 1837, William and his brother Charles Lyon founded the private boarding school for boys in North Tarrytown, later renamed Sleepy Hollow. William P. Lyon was the editor and publisher of the Pocantico Gazette, later known as the Irving Banner, one of the first newspapers in Tarrytown, New York. On August 5, 1840, Wesleyan University bestowed upon him the honorary degree of A.M. through the influence of Wesleyan President Nathan Bangs. In the summer of 1841, Lyon took a trip to Wesleyan University in order to review the examinations of the student body. He was also a prominent member of the New York Conference of the Methodist Church. William P. Lyon died August 10, 1884.