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Megan Smolenyak: Joe Biden's Irish Roots | USA | VIEW SOURCE |
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Biden's ancestor saved lives during Famine | Ireland | VIEW SOURCE |
Edward F. Blewitt (1859 – 1926) the first Irish Catholic to serve in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, was a maternal great-grandfather of Joe Biden (46th President of the US).
In 1848, his father Patrick P. Blewitt (1832-1911) left Ballina, Co. Mayo for the US with his family. His father was an early settler of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, and responsible for the surveying and layout of Scranton. Patrick married Catherine Scanlon and the couple were in New Orleans when Edward was born, returning to Scranton when he was 6 months old.
Edward Blewitt's career was "an encouragement to every struggling young man who has ambition, resolution and a genius for hard work." [Portrait and Biographical Record of Lackawanna, PA]
Blewitt qualified as a civil engineer and held the position of City Engineer in Scranton for ten years before retiring to go into business and later politics.
Blewitt founded the Edward F. Gold Mining Company in Montana in 1903 and co-founded the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Scranton in 1908.
He frequently served the Democratic Party as a delegate to local and state conventions and served as chairman to the city convention.
He represented the 14th Ward upon the Board of School Control and in other positions.
From 1907 to 1910, Edward Blewitt served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 22nd district.
Blewitt married twice. His first wife, Mary Ellen Stanton, died of Typhus in 1887 (just 8 years after they wed). In 1891, he married Mary Ann Blackwell.
Edward Blewitt died in 1926 and was interred at St Catherine's Cemetery in Moscow, Pennsylvania.
READ MORE
Patrick P. Blewitt (EF's Irish-born father)
Edward Blewitt Sr (Biden's x3 great-grandfather and Griffith's Valuation surveyor)
SEE ALSO
James Finnegan (Biden's great-father) who emigrated to NY from Carlingford Co. Louth.
ABOUT THIS SURNAME
Blewett /Bleuett (aka Bliúit/ Blaod / Bluet/ Bleuitt) is an Anglo-Norman Irish surname most numerous in Cork and Limerick.
Rare in County Mayo, it centres around the neighbouring parishes of Kilfian and Ballysakeery (between Killala and Ballina):
Edward Bleuett of 24a Ballymackeehola was recorded here in Griffith's Valuation. His bachelor namesake was the only Bleuitt still there in the 1901 Census of Ireland.
Edmond aka Edmund Blewitt of 4a Seeaghanbaun was recorded in Griffith's Valuation. He married into a Preston farm here. (See Ellen Preston living at 4b).
Hubert Bluet aka Bluit of 1 Colladussaun was recorded in Griffith's Valuation. His unmarried sister (Mary Bleuitt 1812-1903) and son's family were still present in the 1901 Census.
Got a Blewitt in your family tree?
We'd love if you added them to our Ancestors roll-call here:
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 2nd Jan 1859 | |
| Date of Death | 26th May 1926 | |
| Mother (First Name/s and Maiden) | Catherine Scanlon, dau. of Anthony Scanlon (Killala Bay coast guard) & Honora Heffron (a wealthy family) from Ballina | |
| Father (First Name/s and Surname) | Patrick Blewitt of Ballina Co. Mayo (Mine Inspector, and Civil Engineer in Scranton PA) | |
| Number of Siblings | 8 | |
| Names of Siblings | ||
| Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname) | 1. Mary Ellen Stanton (m. 1889 d. 1897) daughter of Irish-born stationery engineer, James Staunton. | |
| Spouse (First Name/s and Maiden/Surname) | Mary Ann Blackwell | |
| Names of Children | 1. | |
My shirttail cousin from Ballina, had her photo taken with Joe Biden when he was there! Praying that he and his team will bring blessings to the US and the world beyond.
Will I be able to contact the person who did the mining research for this study? Thank you!
It's a smaller world than you think. Dr Ciarán Reilly was the researcher into Blewitts history in Ballina. Megan Smolenyak has also done trojan work on Biden's Irish ancestry. (See source links above for both).
