After the war, Joseph Lyman neither studied law nor commenced practice in Council Bluffs, Iowa; then initially served as deputy collector of internal revenue of the fourth district of Iowa from 1867 to 1870.
After the war, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1866, and commenced practice in Council Bluffs, Iowa. 
He initially served as deputy collector of internal revenue of the fifth district of Iowa, from 1867 to 1870. 
