Joseph Franklin Biddle | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Philadelphia Inquirer, September 18, 1932 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's18th district | |
| In office November 8, 1932 – March 3, 1933 | |
| Preceded by | Edward M. Beers |
| Succeeded by | Benjamin K. Focht |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1871-09-14)September 14, 1871 |
| Died | December 3, 1936(1936-12-03) (aged 65) |
| Party | Republican |
Joseph Franklin Biddle (September 14, 1871 – December 3, 1936) was aRepublican member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania.
Joseph F. Biddle was born inCharlesville, Pennsylvania. He graduated fromMillersville State Teachers’ College atMillersville, Pennsylvania, in 1894 and from the law department ofDickinson College inCarlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1897. He was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Bedford. He moved toEverett, Pennsylvania, in 1903 and engaged in the practice of law and in newspaper publishing. He moved toHuntingdon, Pennsylvania, in 1918 and engaged in the printing and publishing business and in banking. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Publishers’ Association from 1924 to 1936, director of the National Editorial Association from 1926 to 1936, and a member of the Republican State committee from 1932 to 1936.
In November 1932, Biddle was the successful Republican nominee in the special election held to fill the vacancy in theSeventy-second Congress caused by the death ofEdward M. Beers. He completed Beers's term, November 8, 1932 to March 3, 1933, but was not a candidate for a full term.
After leaving Congress, Biddle resumed the printing and newspaper publishing business in Huntingdon, where he died. His interment is in Trinity Churchyard, Friends’ Cove, near Bedford.
Joseph F. Biddle married Anna Patton Hunter (1876–1936) on June 17, 1903. They had four daughters and one son.
Biddle founded a newspaper,The Daily News ofHuntingdon, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1922. Upon the deaths of Joseph F. Biddle and wife, Anna Biddle (both died in 1936), ownership of the Biddle publishing assets passed to their five children:[1]
The newspaper and its holding company – The Joseph F. Biddle Publishing Company – was owned and operated by Joseph and Anna Biddle's heirs until October 21, 1991, when all publishing assets were sold toThe Sample News Group, LLC.
The Huntingdon Broadcasters, Inc., longtime owners ofWHUN (AM) andWHUN (FM), had been a wholly owned subsidiary of The Joseph F. Biddle Publishing Company until the mid-1990s, when it was acquired by Forever Broadcasting (Forever Media, Inc.), and in 2015 was acquired by Southern Belle LLC.[2]
John Hunter Biddle served as publisher ofThe Daily News from 1936 until his death on May 14, 1977. On June 13, 1977, one of John H. Biddle's sons, Joseph Franklin Biddle II (born 1936) became the publisher ofThe Daily News – a third generation Biddle family distinction.[3]
One of Joseph's grandsons,El McMeen(né Elmer Ellsworth McMeen; born 1947) is a notable steel stringfingerstyle guitarist.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromPennsylvania's 18th congressional district 1932–1933 | Succeeded by |
