McIver was born on September 25, 1826, near Society Hill, South Carolina to Alexander McIver and Mary Hanford McIver. His Great-grandfather was Captain William Dewitt. He moved to Cheraw, South Carolina in 1836 with his family. In 1846, he graduated from South Carolina College (now the University of South Carolina). He studied law with his father after college, and he was admitted to practice law in December 1847. he married Caroline H. Powe on June 7, 1849. When McIver's father died in July 1850, Governor Whitemarsh B. Seabrook appointed McIver to complete his father's term as the solicitor (prosecutor) for the eastern circuit of the state. At the end of the term, McIver did not run for a full term; however, the successor himself died in office, and McIver was again appointed to conclude the unexpired term. At the end of that second term, McIver was elected to a full term. He continued being re-elected to the position until 1868 when he was removed from office as part of Reconstruction. McIver, representing Chesterfield District, was among signers of the South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession in December 1860. He later served as a captain in the 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment and was severely wounded at the battle of Haw's Shop, Va., then returned to his law practice after the Civil War. On May 19, 1877, he was elected as an associate justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court to fill the unexpired term of the Justice Ammiel J. Willard who had become chief justice of the court. The General Assembly elected McIver unanimously to a full term in December 1879. He served in that position until he was elected and immediately sworn in as chief justice on December 1, 1891, replacing Chief Justice William D. Simpson.