Miss Cornelia Conger, the grand daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Lyon writes the following in her "Memoirs of Swami Vivekananda" that appeared in Prabuddha Bharata Magazine of May 1956. Swami Vivekananda stayed at Lyon's home during the sessions at 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. She writes:

Swamiji was such a dynamic and attractive personality that many women were quite swept away by him and made every effort by flattery to gain his interest. He was still young and, in spite of his great spirituality and his brilliance of mind, seemed to be very unworldly. This used to trouble my grandmother who feared he might be put in a false or uncomfortable position and she tried to caution him a little. Her concern touched and amused him and he patted her hand and said, "Dear Mrs. Lyon, you dear American mother of mine, don't be afraid for me! It is true I often sleep under a banyan tree with a bowl of rice given me by a kindly peasant, but it is equally true that I also am sometimes the guest in the palace of a great Maharajah and a slave girl is appointed to wave a peacock feather fan over me all night long! I am used to temptation and you need not fear for me!"