Tuhia he tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I whānau a McIver i te 25 o Hepetema, 1826, i te taha o Society Hill, South Carolina ki a Alexander McIver rāua ko Mary Hanford McIver. Ko tana tupuna-nui ko Kapene William Dewitt. I neke ia ki Cheraw, South Carolina i te tau 1836 me tona whanau. I te tau 1846, i puta ia i te Whare Wananga o South Carolina (i tenei wa ko te Whare Wananga o South Carolina). I ako ia i te ture me tona papa i muri i te whare wānanga, a i whakaaetia ia ki te mahi ture i te marama o Tihema 1847. I marenatia ia ki a Caroline H. Powe i te Pipiri 7, 1849. I te matenga o te papa o McIver i te Hōngongoi 1850, ka tohua e te Kawana Whitemarsh B. Seabrook a McIver ki te whakaoti i te wa o tona papa hei kaitohutohu mo te rohe rawhiti o te kawanatanga. I te mutunga o te wa, kaore a McIver i rere mo te wa katoa; heoi, i mate te kaiwhaiwhai i te tari, a ka tohua ano a McIver ki te whakaoti i te waa kaore ano kia pau. I te mutunga o taua wā tuarua, ka pōtitia a McIver ki tētahi wā katoa. I haere tonu ia ki te kowhiri ano ki te tuunga tae noa ki te tau 1868 i te wa i nekehia atu ai ia mai i te tari hei waahanga o te Whakahou. Ko McIver, e tohu ana i te Takiwa o Chesterfield, i roto i nga kaitohu o te Ture o te Secession o South Carolina i te Tihema 1860. I muri mai ka mahi ia hei rangatira i te 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment ka whara kino ia i te pakanga o Haw's Shop
, Va., katahi ka hoki ki tana mahi ture i muri i te Pakanga Whenua. I te Mei 19, 1877, i pootihia ia hei kaiwhakawa honohono o te Kooti Nui o South Carolina ki te whakakii i te waa kaore ano kia pau o te Ture Ammiel J. Willard i riro hei kaiwhakawa matua o te kooti. I kōwhiria a McIver e te Huihuinga Nui ki te wā katoa i te marama o Tihema 1879. I mahi ia i taua tūranga tae noa ki tana pōtitanga me te oati tonu hei kaiwhakawa matua i te Tihema 1, 1891, hei whakakapi i te Kaiwhakawa Matua a William D. Simpson.