Fact Check: Joe Biden's great-grandfather didn't own slaves, fight for Confederacy

[ucrdem]

11. Here's the USA Today fact check:

Biden’s genealogy

The former vice president's paternal great-grandfather was named George T. Biden, not Joseph J. Biden, as the claim suggests. George Biden was born in Maryland in 1867, two years after the Civil War ended. He died in 1933.

George’s father – former VP Biden’s paternal great-great-grandfather – was named Joseph H. Biden. On some genealogy sites, his name is listed as Joseph J. H. Biden, which may be where the name in the claim came from. Joseph H. Biden was born in 1828, as the claim suggests of former VP Biden’s great-grandfather.

Both Joseph H. and George Biden were born, raised and buried in Maryland.

Candidate Biden’s maternal great-grandfather was named Edward F. Blewitt. He was born in 1859, making him 6 years old when the Civil War ended. The Blewitt family immigrated to America from County Mayo, Ireland, in 1851.

Biden’s ancestry is easily traceable online through multiple genealogy websites. USA TODAY primarily used Geni.com.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/06/29/fact-check-joe-bidens-great-grandfather-did-not-own-slaves/3264488001/