Henry McIver (September 25, 1826 – January 12, 1903) was a chief justice on the

South Carolina Supreme Court The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.

. McIver was born on September 25, 1826, near

Society Hill, South Carolina Society Hill is a town in Darlington County, South Carolina, United States alongside the Pee Dee River. It is the oldest community in Darlington County and one of the first towns founded in South Carolina. The town was once the intellectual cente ...

to Alexander McIver and Mary Hanford McIver. His Great-grandfather was Captain

William Dewitt William Dewitt (1738 – July 18, 1813 ) was a South Carolina planter, lawyer, and politician who was a Captain in the American Revolutionary War. He was a Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives 6 years after the signing of the ...

. His uncle was

Gregory Anthony Perdicaris Gregory Anthony Perdicaris ( el, Γρηγόρης Αντώνης Περδικάρης; 1810 – April 18, 1883) was a Greek American statesman, lawyer, professor, author, and entrepreneur. Perdicaris raised awareness about Greece in the United S ...

and his first cousin was

Ion Hanford Perdicaris Ion Hanford Perdicaris (April 1, 1840 – May 31, 1925) was an author, professor, lawyer, painter, and playwright. He was a humanitarian and human rights activist. He fought for the rights of Moors, Arabs and slaves. He was active in the anti-sl ...

."Demetrios Constantinos Andrianis"
''Gregory Anthony Perdicaris'' Digital Academic Research Archives May 10, 2022: p. 5 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 Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. McIver, representing

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

District, was among signers of the South Carolina's

Ordinance of Secession An Ordinance of Secession was the name given to multiple resolutions drafted and ratified in 1860 and 1861, at or near the beginning of the Civil War, by which each seceding Southern state or territory formally declared secession from the United ...

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. McIver died on January 12, 1903. He is buried at Old Saint Davids Episcopal Church Cemetery in

Cheraw, South Carolina Cheraw ( , ) is a city on the Pee Dee River in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 5,040 at the 2020 census. The greater Cheraw area in the zip code 29520 has a population of 13,689 according to the 2019 ACS ...

References

*Dietrich, Richard Kevin, ''To Virginia and Back with Rutledge's Cavalry: A History of the 4th South Carolina Cavalry Regiment'', Broadfoot Publishing Company, 2015 Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justices of the South Carolina Supreme Court 1826 births 1903 deaths 19th-century American judges {{US-state-judge-stub