Edward Francis Blewitt
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Edward Francis Blewitt (January 2, 1859 May 26, 1926) was an American civil engineer, businessman, and politician who served as a Democratic member of the
Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...
for the 22nd district from 1907 to 1910. He was a maternal great-grandfather of Joe Biden, the 46th and current
president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
.


Early life and education

Blewitt was born in
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, to Patrick and Catherine (Scanlon) Blewitt, who were emigrants from Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland. Blewitt attended
Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 1832. The founders voted to name the college after General Laf ...
, serving as class president, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1879.


Career

Blewitt worked as an engineer in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania mining operations. He worked as the City Engineer of
Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
, and as chief engineer of the
Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Mexico, while the Guadalaja ...
sewer and water system from 1883 to 1893. In 1883, he was elected to one term as school controller of Scranton ending in 1884. He worked as state engineer of the State of
Jalisco, Mexico Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political d ...
from 1900 to 1901. In 1906, Blewitt was elected as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 22nd district from 1907 to 1910. Blewitt was the first
Irish-Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the Briti ...
to serve in the
Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...
. In 1903, he founded the Edward F. Gold Mining Company, a silver and gold mining operation in Montana. Blewitt was the co-founder of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick in Scranton in 1908 and was a member of the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order founded in 1868, originally as a social club in New York City. History The Elks began in 1868 as a soci ...
.


Personal life

He married Mary Ellen Stanton in 1879. They had four children together: Gertrude, Patrick, Arthur, and Geraldine. From this marriage (through their daughter Geraldine), Blewitt is the matrilineal great-grandfather of Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States. His wife died in 1887, and in 1891 Blewitt was remarried to Mary Ann Blackwell. Blewitt died on May 26, 1926, and was interred at St. Catherine's Cemetery in
Moscow, Pennsylvania Moscow is a borough in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,039 at the 2020 census. It is located southeast of Scranton and southwest of Honesdale. Name Moscow was settled in the 1830s and is said to be named fo ...
.


See also

*
Family of Joe Biden Joe Biden, the 46th and current president of the United States, has family members who are prominent in law, education, activism and politics. Biden's immediate family became the first family of the United States on his inauguration on Janu ...


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blewitt, Edward Francis 1859 births 1926 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American engineers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American engineers 20th-century American politicians American civil engineers American company founders American people of Irish descent Burials in Pennsylvania Engineers from Pennsylvania Biden family Lafayette College alumni Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Scranton, Pennsylvania Politicians from New Orleans Members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks