Per his death certificate found on Ancestry.com: he was a son of W. S. Lyles, born in Fairfield Co., S. C., and Sara Haynesworth, born in Sumter, S. C., and the husband of Miriam S. Lyles. He was a lawyer. He died at 1401 Blanding St. of cerebral apoplexy. The informant was Mrs. W. H. Lyles of Columbia, S. C.

Found in The State 24 April 1932: Last rights for William Haynsworth Lyles, 78-year-old Columbia attorney who died Friday at his home, 1401 Blanding street, will be held at 3 o'clock this afternoon at the First Baptist church with the Rev. John H. Webb, pastor, in charge. Interment will be in Elmwood. Mr. Lyles, prominent in the business, religious and social life of Columbia was at one time president of the state bar and the Richland bar. He had a long and distinguished legal career. He was the only son of William Strother Lyles and Sarah Haynsworth Lyles, coming from families prominent in the history of South Carolina. Growing up immediately after the Confederate war, he attended Furman Fitting school one year and spent two years at Mount Zion institute at Winnsboro, where he read law in Col. James H. Rion's office. He opened a law office in Columbia in 1875 and took an active part in the redemption and reconstruction of the state and ever since had been prominent in the leading enterprises of the upbuilding of the city. Mr. Lyles was one of the promoters and builders and original directors of the Columbia, Newberry & Laurens railroad, the Columbia Street railway, the Granby and Olympia system of cotton mills and the first suburban development company of the Columbia Land & Investment company. He was president of the old Commercial bank and later organized the Palmetto Bank & Trust company, later the Palmetto National bank, and remained its president for a time. During the early years of The State he was a stockholder and director. At the time of his death he was associated with his son, J. B. S. Lyles, in the law firm of Lyles and Lyles. He continued actively in practice until about a year ago when ill health incapacitated him. Three months ago he suffered a stroke of apoplexy and failing to rally, died peacefully Friday in the bed in which he was born. In Mr. Lyles death, Columbia lost one of its most valuable citizens and the First Baptist church lost one of its most beloved members. Mr. Lyles married Miriam Mays Sloan of Anderson and she survives with six children. Miss Mary Earle Lyles, Mrs. Francis R. Boyd of Cambridge, Mass., Jo-Berry Sloan Lyles, William H. Lyles, Jr., Preston Earle Lyles and Mrs. J. Sproles Lyons, Jr., of Landrum; also the following grandchildren: Harriet Earle Boyd, Francis Boyd, Jr., Wallace Lyons, May Lyons, William Sloan Lyles.