T. Edgar Lyon

Who was T. Edgar Lyon?

Thomas Edgar "Ed" Lyon was a prominent Latter-day Saint historian and educator. He is most noted for his work on 19th century Latter-day Saint history. He also wrote on Latter-day Saint doctrine.

Lyon was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. At age nine he began working in his father's print shop and at age 12 he began to spend summers doing ranch work in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Lyon graduated from LDS High School in Salt Lake City. He studied for two years at the University of Utah and then left on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Netherlands. He was set apart as a missionary by Melvin J. Ballard.

After his mission, Lyon resumed his studies at the University of Utah. In 1927 he married Laura Hermana Forsberg. They became the parents of six children, David Waldemar Lyon, John Lyon, twins born in Holland on 17 February 1934: A. Laurence Lyon and James Karl Lyon; and twins born 13 May 1939: Thomas Edgar "Ted" Lyon Jr. and Joseph Lynn Lyon.

After receiving his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah, Lyon taught high school for a year in Rigby, Idaho. He then became a seminary principal in the Church Educational System. In 1930, Lyon began work on a master's degree at the University of Chicago which he completed in 1932, writing his thesis on Orson Pratt.