Joe Biden's Ancestry: Irish Catholic Heritage
Unlike McCain, Palin and Obama, whose American roots stretch back two or more centuries, most of Bidens ancestors were part of the great 19th century influx, which included Irish famine victims who escaped destitution and death to start anew this side of the Atlantic.
Biden and Obamas Irish Ancestors
Both Biden and Obama descend from Irish shoemakers who came to the United States in 1849, only a month apart., but Obama has several ancestral lines which reach back into the colonial era.
The first principle of politics, the foundational principle, I learned in the 1950s in my grandpops kitchen when I was about 12 or 13 years old, Biden wrote as the beginning to his 2007 autobiography, Promises to Keep. My parents had recently moved us to Delaware, but most Friday nights Mom and Dad would load me, my sister Val, my brother Jimmy and the baby, Frankie, into our car and drive up to Scranton, Pa., to spend the weekend at grandpop Finnegans house.
Biden and Mother Return to Scranton
His mother, now age 91, is the former Catherine Eugenia Finnegan and grandpop was Ambrose J. Finnegan, who married Geraldine Blewitt. Biden recently returned to Scranton with his mother; one stop was the old family home, which the current owner has lived in since the days of Ambrose J. Finnegan. Ambrose, an early engineer with the Scranton Gas & Water Co., was the son of James Finnegan, a blind musician. Ambroses mother, Catherine, died before he was two and his dad, James, died when he was 10. When the 1900 census was taken, Ambrose was living with an uncle.
James and Catherine, both born in Ireland, were married in Ovid, NY; each had been living with parents in Seneca Co., NY. James was a son of Owen and Jane (Boyle) Finnegan; Catherine was a daughter of Thomas and Bridget Roche. The Finnegans were probably from Irelands County Louth.
Blewitt Ancestors Were Engineers
Bidens great-grandfather, Edward F. Blewitt, was a mining engineer and Pennsylvania state senator. His great-great-grandfather, Patrick Blewitt, was an engineer who laid out many of Scrantons early streets. Patrick and his wife, the former Catherine Scanlon, were both born in Ireland, possibly in County Mayo.
Senator Bidens paternal line goes back through his father, Joseph Robinette Biden Sr., born in Baltimore, MD, and grandfather, Joseph H. Biden, to George T. Biden, also born in Maryland. George was the son of Joseph J. and Lydia (Randle) Biden, both born in Maryland and married in 1852 in Baltimore. It was Josephs father, William Biden, who came from England sometime prior to marrying Mary Elkin at Baltimore in 1822.
The Robinette Family
Senator Bidens middle name, Robinette, comes from his grandmother, Mary E. Robinette, wife of Joseph Biden. She was the daughter of George H. Robinette, born in 1844 in Virginia, and his wife, Mary, and granddaughter of Moses and Jane (Humphrey) Robinette. It is believed that this family descends from Allen Robinett, who was born in England in 1632 and settled in Chester Co., PA, where he died in 1694. If so, it is Biden's only major line back to the 1600s in America.
George Bidens wife, Lydia Randle, was a daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Shoemaker) Randle/Randall, who were married in 1830 at Baltimore. Thomas may be the son of a William Randle who came from England to Baltimore about 1799.
Biden often points with pride to his Irish Catholic mothers strength of character and the influence she had on him during his formative years. She and John McCains mother, both in their 90s, are on the campaign trail.
Companion articles give an overview of the ancestry of Barack Obama and of John McClain and Sarah Palin.
SOURCES: Genealogist Megan Smolenyak; census records; draft registrations; and, research by William Addams Reitwiesner.
https://suite101.com/article.cfm/joe_bidens_ancestry_irish_catholic_heritage
Biden and Obamas Irish Ancestors
Both Biden and Obama descend from Irish shoemakers who came to the United States in 1849, only a month apart., but Obama has several ancestral lines which reach back into the colonial era.
The first principle of politics, the foundational principle, I learned in the 1950s in my grandpops kitchen when I was about 12 or 13 years old, Biden wrote as the beginning to his 2007 autobiography, Promises to Keep. My parents had recently moved us to Delaware, but most Friday nights Mom and Dad would load me, my sister Val, my brother Jimmy and the baby, Frankie, into our car and drive up to Scranton, Pa., to spend the weekend at grandpop Finnegans house.
Biden and Mother Return to Scranton
His mother, now age 91, is the former Catherine Eugenia Finnegan and grandpop was Ambrose J. Finnegan, who married Geraldine Blewitt. Biden recently returned to Scranton with his mother; one stop was the old family home, which the current owner has lived in since the days of Ambrose J. Finnegan. Ambrose, an early engineer with the Scranton Gas & Water Co., was the son of James Finnegan, a blind musician. Ambroses mother, Catherine, died before he was two and his dad, James, died when he was 10. When the 1900 census was taken, Ambrose was living with an uncle.
James and Catherine, both born in Ireland, were married in Ovid, NY; each had been living with parents in Seneca Co., NY. James was a son of Owen and Jane (Boyle) Finnegan; Catherine was a daughter of Thomas and Bridget Roche. The Finnegans were probably from Irelands County Louth.
Blewitt Ancestors Were Engineers
Bidens great-grandfather, Edward F. Blewitt, was a mining engineer and Pennsylvania state senator. His great-great-grandfather, Patrick Blewitt, was an engineer who laid out many of Scrantons early streets. Patrick and his wife, the former Catherine Scanlon, were both born in Ireland, possibly in County Mayo.
Senator Bidens paternal line goes back through his father, Joseph Robinette Biden Sr., born in Baltimore, MD, and grandfather, Joseph H. Biden, to George T. Biden, also born in Maryland. George was the son of Joseph J. and Lydia (Randle) Biden, both born in Maryland and married in 1852 in Baltimore. It was Josephs father, William Biden, who came from England sometime prior to marrying Mary Elkin at Baltimore in 1822.
The Robinette Family
Senator Bidens middle name, Robinette, comes from his grandmother, Mary E. Robinette, wife of Joseph Biden. She was the daughter of George H. Robinette, born in 1844 in Virginia, and his wife, Mary, and granddaughter of Moses and Jane (Humphrey) Robinette. It is believed that this family descends from Allen Robinett, who was born in England in 1632 and settled in Chester Co., PA, where he died in 1694. If so, it is Biden's only major line back to the 1600s in America.
George Bidens wife, Lydia Randle, was a daughter of Thomas and Mary Ann (Shoemaker) Randle/Randall, who were married in 1830 at Baltimore. Thomas may be the son of a William Randle who came from England to Baltimore about 1799.
Biden often points with pride to his Irish Catholic mothers strength of character and the influence she had on him during his formative years. She and John McCains mother, both in their 90s, are on the campaign trail.
Companion articles give an overview of the ancestry of Barack Obama and of John McClain and Sarah Palin.
SOURCES: Genealogist Megan Smolenyak; census records; draft registrations; and, research by William Addams Reitwiesner.
https://suite101.com/article.cfm/joe_bidens_ancestry_irish_catholic_heritage
