The founder of the McIver/McIvor families in Amherst County, Virginia, was undoubtedly Christopher McIver who may have been the one to generally shift the spelling of the name to McIvor though there have been earlier examples. At some point, whether affectionately or not, he became known as “Old Kit” and there were several family myths about him. One prominent one was that he was “born on the boat coming over”, another was “he owned half of Monroe” and yet another was that he died a very wealthy man. There may be a kernel of truth in each myth but basically they are incorrect. His year of birth is also unclear. By oral history he was born in 1805 while census records indicate he was born in 1807 or 1808, but he was absolutely born in what was then Campbell County, now Appomattox County, to Daniel and Elizabeth Bass McIver. Continue reading →