 The Sumter District gained a form of self-rule and was renamed Sumter County under the 1868 Constitution.In 1898, a northwestern part of Sumter County was detached to form part of the first Lee County, but its formation was declared unconstitutional in 1899.In 1902, an even larger northern part of Sumter County (more or less the remaining part of former Salem County) was properly legally detached to form the major sections of the current Lee County, of which some acreage reverted in 1914.