Michael Joseph McIver

1878 - 1958  (79 years)

• Name	Michael Joseph McIver  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Nickname	Michael J / M.J. / Mike
  Birth	6 Nov 1878	Newton, Prince Edward Island, Canada   [1, 2, 4]
  Christening	10 Nov 1878	St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, Lot 65, Prince Edward Island, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	1920
  	Wholesale Dealer, Potatoes (per 1920 Census)
  Death	2 May 1958	Prince Edward Island, Canada
  Burial	St. Malachy's Cemetery, Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Canada
  Person ID	P1567	The McIver Family Tree
  Last Modified	15 Jul 2024

  
  

  Father	Michael McKeever (McIver),   b. Jan 1837, Drumagelvin, Tyholland, Monaghan, Ireland d. 8 Feb 1910, Kelly's Cross, Prince Edward Island, Canada (Age 73 years)
  Mother	Susan McKenna,   b. 14 Apr 1854, Prince Edward Island, Canada d. 25 Jul 1909, Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Canada (Age 55 years)
  Marriage	15 Jan 1875	Iona, Prince Edward Island, Canada   [6]
  Family ID	F330	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Catherine Marie Hughes,   b. 2 Sep 1882, Kelly's Cross, Prince Edward Island, Canada d. Feb 1937, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada (Age 54 years)
  Marriage	1904	Prince Edward Island, Canada
  Children	+ 1. James Michael MacGuigan,   b. 3 Jul 1903, Kelly's Cross, Prince Edward Island, Canada d. 1980, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Age 76 years)  [Father: Stepchild]  [Mother: Birth] + 2. Gertrude Lauretta McIver,   b. 21 Oct 1905, Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Canada d. Feb 1964, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada (Age 58 years)   3. Henry Elmer McIver,   b. 2 Feb 1907, Caribou, Maine, USA d. 15 Dec 1975, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Age 68 years)   4. Eugene Joseph McIver,   b. 15 Sep 1909, Van Buren, Maine, USA d. 14 Dec 1981, Mirror Lake, New Hampshire, USA (Age 72 years) + 5. Mary Madeline McIver,   b. 6 Mar 1912, Van Buren, Maine, USA d. 4 Feb 1991, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Age 78 years)   6. Charles Francis McIver,   b. 20 Jun 1913, Van Buren, Maine, USA d. 17 Sep 1913, Van Buren, Maine, USA (Age 0 years) + 7. Charles Francis McIver,   b. 22 Apr 1915, Van Buren, Maine, USA d. 3 Jul 1975, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Age 60 years)   8. George Gerald McIver,   b. 26 Sep 1916, Van Buren, Maine, USA d. 27 Sep 1916, Van Buren, Maine, USA (Age 0 years)   9. Stella Winnifred McIver,   b. 27 Mar 1918, Van Buren, Maine, USA d. 27 Jun 1991, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada (Age 73 years)
  Family ID	F335	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	1 Aug 2021

  
  

  Family 2	Louise Walsh   d. 1968
  Marriage	1937	Prince Edward Island, Canada
  Family ID	F334	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 Jul 2021

  
  

• Photos		Photo - Michael J. McIver's family Michael J. and Catherine McIver with three of their children. While not confirmed, it is believed that the children are (from L-R): James Michael, Henry Elmer, and Gertrude Lauretta.
  		Photo - M.J. McIver Homestead This was the home of Michael J. McIver and his family, in Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Canada. The home was built in 1921. In 1935, the house was converted into a convent by The Sisters of Saint Martha, which housed Sister Winnifred McIver (Michael J's youngest daughter Stella Winnifred). The Sisters served Kinkora and the surrounding area until the early 1990s. In 1986, the house was renovated into a bed and breakfast, which has been known as Chez Shea since 2004.

  
  

  Documents » Slide Show		Baptismal Record - Michael J McIver Baptized on November 10, 1878 by A McDonald at St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church, Lot 65, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
  		Census - 1881 Census of Canada - Lot 29, Queens, Prince Edward Island
  		Census - 1891 Census of Canada - Lot 29, Queen's County, Prince Edward Island
  		Census - 1901 Census of Canada - Lot 29, Prince Edward Island, Canada (Page 36)
  		Census - 1910 US Census - Van Buren, Maine
  		Census - 1920 US Census - Van Buren, Maine Arrival noted as 1906 for Michael J., Catherine, James, and Gertrude. Also included in the household was Mary Hagen, listed as a niece of Michael.
  		Census - 1921 Census of Canada - Kinkora, Prince Edward Island
  		Newspaper Article - Michael J McIver Article published in The Herald on July 1, 1868, regarding the assignment of debts to Francis McKenna to Michael J McIver.
  		Newspaper Article - Charles Hugh McIver Article published in The Guardian on August 21, 1919, stating that Charles was returning to his home in Boston, Massachusetts after spending holidays with his brothers, Michael and Eugene McIver at Kinkora, Prince Edward Island.
  		Document - Michael Joseph McIver WWI Registration Card (US)
  		Death Record - Michael Joseph McIver Article regarding M.J. McIver's funeral published in the Charlottetown Guardian on May 6, 1958.

  
  

  Headstones		Headstone - Michael J McIver and Catherine Hughes Located at St. Malachy's Cemetery, Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Canada
  		Headstone - Michael J McIver and Catherine Hughes Located at St. Malachy's Cemetery, Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, Canada

  
  

  Histories

  Book Excerpt - Michael J. McIver Excerpt from the book, Around Kinkora Area by Gregory Kevin Farmer, published by the Maple Leaf Senior Citizens Club in 1991. Excerpt includes pages 76 to 79, which describes Michael J. McIver as "The Potato King", detailing how Michael J. returned home to PEI from Maine, and introduced the white seed potato into the farming industry in PEI.

  
  

• Notes

  The following is, with permission, a direct quote from a book produced by Mr. Kevin Farmer. This book, AROUND KINKORA AREA, was published by The Maple Leaf Senior Citizens and the quote is contained in Chapter 8 of the book. “It is widely known that Prince Edward Island is a major potato-producing province in Canada. It is less well known that the birthplace of the Island’s most prized potato export, white seed potatoes, was the Kinkora area: and that the father of the P.E.I. seed potato industry was Michael J. McIver. “M.J.”, as he was usually known, was born at McIver’s Point near Hampton in Township 29, P.E.I. in 1878; and after his marriage to Mrs. Catherine (Hughes) McGuigan in 1904 moved to Main, U.S.A., eventually settling in Van Buren, Maine in 1908. There he gained experience in the production and marketing of potatoes. But he desired to return to his native province, and kept informed about efforts at the P.E.I. experimental farm, Charlottetown, to substitute white potatoes for the them popular blue variety. In 1919 he returned to P.E.I. and test-grew twenty-five acres of white potatoes in Newton. Satisfied with the results he purchased the eighty-acre farm from John Wall in Kinkora for $8,000.00 in 1920. The following year he moved his family to Kinkora, and had a large home built on this property. (This house later became the Convent and in 2009 is Chez Shea Inn) Within the next few years he purchased or leased several more farms within the area, on which he grew potatoes. His choice of area to begin a seed potato industry was ideal. P.E.I. was a preferred source for seed potatoes because its potatoes were not seriously affected by scab, as were potatoes in other parts of Canada. The area around Kinkora lies within what is called “the agricultural heart of the Island” Moreover, Townships 26 and 27 were the only townships which recorded increases in potato production between 1890 and 1920. Using his marketing skills and his personal contacts with American buyers, M.J. quickly became a success. By 1924 the newspapers were referring to him as the “Potato King”. The following excerpt from 1926 is a sample of the enthusiastic praise heaped upon him. Mr. M.J. McIvor, (sic) Kinkora, the pioneer of intensified potato culture on P.E.I. started an enterprise in Kinkora, P.E.I. several years ago which has nearly revolutionized old methods of growing potatoes, and has been a great source of revenue to a large number of our people – making of their farms a perennial gold mine – with a rich annual ‘paystreak’. Mr. McIvor has grown this year 35,000 bushels of potatoes. He is also an extensive buyer and shipper of potatoes; he has shipped 50 carloads to New York city alone this fall. He bought and sold 125 carloads in all. P.E.I. wants more men like Mr. McIvor – men who will ‘start’ something. The changes he introduced to the growing of potatoes include the use of a horse-drawn potato seeder, which dropped the potato ‘sets’ (cut portions of potatoes bearing the buds or seeds) into a drill, and covered them with soil; the use of chemical fertilizers; and single-crop farming. His use of many workers during the whole year to prepare soil, plant, spray with insecticides, hill the rows of potato plants, harvest and grade the potatoes, was also a “revolution” in potato growing. Neighbours were surprised ; some disapproved of such intensive activity in a single crop; and one even condemned the use of chemical fertilizer. But others remembered he paid workers well; that more cars were purchased in the area after his arrival; and that he had many admirers. His example was copied by many Island farmers. In 1920 only one-fifth of potatoes grown on P.E.I. were for seed (about 533 acres), by 1928 half of all potatoes were for seed (25,883 acres)….” M.J. eventually sold the farm in Kinkora (need more research on reasons why) and relocated to Lake Verde where he continued to farm. He is buried in Kinkora with his first wife, Catherine M. Hughes. Catherine died in 1937 at the age of 56 years. M.J. died in 1958 at the age of 80 years.

  
  

• Sources

  [S218274190] Ancestry.com, 1891 Census of Canada, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Year: 1891; Census Place: Lot 29, Queens, Prince Edward Island; Roll: T-6384; Family No: 62. [S218273996] Ancestry.com, 1901 Census of Canada, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Year: 1901; Census Place: Lot (township/canton) 29, Prince (east/est), Prince Edward Island; Page: 5; Family No: 49. [S238081765] Ancestry.com, Vermont, Marriage Records, 1909-2008, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Vermont State Archives and Records Administration; Montpelier, Vermont. [S238081775] Ancestry.com, Web: Prince Edward Island, Baptism Index, 1788-1943, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.). http://www.gov.pe.ca/archives/baptismal/detail.php?id=62754 [S238053961] Ancestry.com, Maine, Birth Records, 1715-1922, (Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), Maine State Archives; Cultural Building, 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084; 1908-1922 Vital Records; Roll Number: 37. [S227379023] Ancestry.com, 1900 United States Federal Census, (Ancestry.com Operations Inc), Year: 1900; Census Place: Caribou, Aroostook, Maine; Page: 13; Enumeration District: 0009; FHL microfilm: 1240588.