I don't know the other Lytes who might have been relatives. Both my great-grandmothers were Lytes from Lexington County, South Carolina. I wish I knew the connections if there are any.

Other Lytes lived 20 miles east of my hometown in Faulkner County in a town named Conway. It looks like they might have been the family that later moved to Pine Bluff. I think they were dentists or doctors in Pine Bluff. They were all from Lexington County..and Pearl Lytes lived in Pine Bluff.

I always believed Henry P. Lytes was my Great grandfather Bascom Ponds uncle. He was a JP and performed the marriage for Bascom and Ida Armstead Ponds

I found Henry P. Lytes in the Conway County census of Welburne Township taken June 6, 1900 in Enumeration District 15, page 181A, sheet #4. He is listed as a 48-year-old Black male, born February 1852 in South Carolina. His wife Juliann is a Black female, age 47, born October 1852 in South Carolina. They have a granddaughter, Elsie, age 14, born January 1886 in Arkansas. Both her parents are from South Carolina. I think this more than a coincidence that Backey’s mother’s maiden name was Frances Lytes. (Ancestry.com census images 1900) This also tells me that the Lytes were in Conway County when Elsie Lytes was born, but I have not found this family on any other census sheets. What could have happened to him? Rather, what did happen to him? During reconstruction so many things happened to our people. He could have died of an illness, could have been hung, could have been “run out” of town, could have moved voluntarily, and could have returned to South Carolina. I’ll probably never know but perhaps someone else will investigate.
The only other Lytes/Lites I saw in Conway County was a Clara Lites (Lytes?) from South Carolina living in ED 16 on page 204A, sheet 15. She worked as a laundress. She was 65 years old in 1900, born January 1835 in South Carolina. There was a boarder in her household named Ek Turner, age 45 who was born May 1855 in Georgia.
There was a Chloe Lights born 1818 in South Carolina who lived in District 18 in Morrilton in 1900. There is a James Austin living with her also born in South Carolina, who is listed as her son. However, he is only 29 years old so I doubt that he’s her son. Chloe owned a house on Morrill Street. She was a widow who lived near or with Nellie Gordon’s family (white). James was a laborer. A 70 year old James Austin and his wife Mary, 64 born in South Carolina were enumerated in District 19 in 1900. She had no children. They lived in “Sally Town.” So….this is another mystery to be solved.
Another Black South Carolina family lived next door to Henry Lytes – the family of Henry and Mary Derrick. I don’t know if there is a connection. Not having an 1890 census (the federal files burned) certainly prevents finding some family information. It seems these people just disappeared. A Rev. Derrick’s name was found in the minutes of the Trinity Baptist Church between the years 1921 and 1928. According to Lonnie Davis, another family searcher, the Derricks, Ponds, and Davis families all lived in the same area of Lexington County – Black and white – and were all related in some manner. There were several African-American Lytes families in the 1870 Census of Lexington County, SC, Gilbert Hollow and/or Hollow Creek Townships