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, stagger ...

for the 22nd district from 1907 to 1910. He was a maternal great-grandfather of

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

, the 46th

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. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Early life and education

Blewitt was born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, to Patrick and Catherine (née Scanlon) Blewitt, who were emigrants from Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland. Edward Francis Blewitt's grandfather Edward Blewitt had been an estate agent and construction project manager in Ballina. Blewitt attended

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

, 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 and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, and as chief engineer of the

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

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 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 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 Pennsylvani ...

. 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), commonly known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks, is an American fraternal order and charitable organization founded in 1868 in New York City. Originally established as a social club for m ...

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

, the 46th president of the United States. Through Blewitt's son Patrick, he is the grandfather of

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American supernatural comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler, three eccentric ...

editor David Blewitt. His wife died in 1887, and in 1891 Blewitt was remarried to Mary Ann Blackwell. Blewitt died on May 26, 1926.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blewitt, Edward Francis 1859 births 1926 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American engineers 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American engineers American civil engineers American company founders American people of Irish descent Engineers from Pennsylvania Biden family Lafayette College alumni Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Scranton, Pennsylvania Politicians from New Orleans 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References