YORKSPAST

Investigating history: That time Joe Biden's dad lived and worked in York

Stephen H. Smith

For the York Daily Record

The father of presidential candidate Joe Biden worked as a clerk-typist for the American Oil Company Bulk Plant along Hill Street in Spring Garden Township. At the time, Joe Biden Sr. was 24, which is one year before he married and two years before the birth of Joe Biden Jr.

I was doing some WWII family history research via Draft Registration Cards in the York area and stumbled upon a registration card for Joseph Robinette Biden. I wondered if he was any relation to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Indeed he is! He was Joe Biden’s father.

WWII Draft Registration Card for Joseph R. Biden, Sr. done October 16, 1940, in York, PA (Source: Ancestry.com)

Per his registration for the draft on October 16, 1940, Joe Biden, Sr. was working for American Oil Company in York, located at Hill Street and the Ma & Pa Railroad. The address of his father, Joseph H. Biden, was crossed out and replaced with Y.M.C.A., York, PA.

I wondered if Joe Biden Sr. was in York, earlier in 1940, during the 1940 United States Census. The 1940 United States Census for the City of York, Pennsylvania contains the following entry for Joseph R. Biden, among the residents of the Y.M.C.A. Dormitory per Enumeration district 67-117; enumerated April 9, 1940, on Sheet No. 81B, Line No. 43:

Name: Biden, Joseph R.

Sex: Male

Race: White

Age at last birthday: 24

Marital status: Single

Highest grade of school completed: College 1st year

Place of birth: Maryland

Residence on April 1, 1935: Scranton, Lackawanna Co., Pennsylvania

Was this person AT WORK during week of March 24-30, 1940: Yes

Number of hours worked during week of March 24-30, 1940: 40

Occupation: Clerk-Typist

Industry: Oil Bulk Plant

Number of weeks worked in 1939: 52

Income in 1939, for 12 months ending Dec. 31, 1939: $1,050

The American Oil Company Bulk Plant was located at 385 Hill Street, which is between the Ma & Pa Railroad and Spahn Avenue in Spring Garden Township. From that plant, upwards of one million gallons of fuel products and lubricants were distributed each month.

Former location of Amoco Bulk Plant at 385 Hill Street; via northward view along Hill Street at Spahn Avenue in Spring Garden Township, York Co., PA (Google Street View)

It appears that for at least six months, April through October 1940, Joe Biden Sr. was living at the Y.M.C.A. Dormitory, while working at the Amoco Bulk Plant along Hill Street as a Clerk-Typist.

The earliest Joe Biden Sr. appears in York per local newspapers is August 21, 1939, when the York Dispatch reported: “Joseph Biden, a resident of the Y.M.C.A., has returned from Baltimore, where he was the guest of relatives and friends.” Therefore he could be residing at the “Y” for 14 months, August of 1939 thru October of 1940.” During that time span Joseph Biden appears in a number of plays, presented around the city, in which he is noted among the members of the Y.M.C.A. Dormitory Club.

Y.M.C.A. Building, Corner North Newberry and West Philadelphia Streets, York, PA (Postcard, S. H. Smith Collection)

I started checking directories, on Ancestry.com, to see how early Joe Biden, Sr. was in York. The 1940 Census notes Joe Biden, Sr. is living in Scranton on April 1, 1935. He just recently moved there per the following directory listings during the 1930s:

1934 Directory of Wilmington, Delaware

Joseph H. Biden (wife Mary R) is District Manager American Oil Company, residing at 108 West 36th; his son Joseph R. Biden is a student, at home. [Note: Mary R is for Mary Robinette, her maiden name]

1937 Directory of Scranton, Pennsylvania

Joseph H. Biden (wife Mary E) is Branch Manager American Oil Company, residing at 2202 Adams Ave.; his son Joseph R. Biden is at home.

1939 Directory of Scranton, Pennsylvania

Joseph H. Biden (wife Mary E) is Branch Manager American Oil Company, residing at 2109 Wyoming Ave.; his son Joseph R. Biden is Plant Manager, at home.

Directories are compiled during November and December of the prior year. Therefore, sometime between January 1939 and August 1939, Joseph R. Biden moves to the York Y.M.C.A.

This photo shows Joseph R. Biden, Sr. with his son, then Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. They are wearing badges, which note: “I’m Joe Biden, Sr.” and “I’m Joe Biden, U.S. Senator.”

Following the roughly 14 months in York, Joseph R. Biden Sr. is working as a salesman for the American Oil Company, based in Harrisburg. Upon his marriage to Jean Finnegan on May 30, 1941, at Scranton, The Tribune reported: “Mr. Biden is a graduate of St. Thomas High School and attended Johns Hopkins University. He is a salesman for the American Oil Company.” “They will reside at 1739 Herr Street, Harrisburg.” Thus the one year of college, reported in the 1940 Census, was attending John Hopkins University.

Joe Biden Sr. next becomes salesman for the American Oil Company, based in Baltimore. Per an article in The Times-Tribute, Scranton, PA; it appears Joe Biden Sr. is still based in Baltimore as of November 20, 1942, when Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is born in Scranton. Were they just visiting the wife’s parents and the baby came early?

Birth of Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. at St. Mary’s Hospital in Scranton, PA on November 20, 1942 (The Times-Tribute, Scranton, PA, issue of November 20, 1942, page 20)

Stephen H. Smith writes about York's Past at yorkblog.com/yorkspast.