Joseph Lobdell

Joseph Lobdell
Lobdell in braids, beads, and feathers, c. 1853
Born(1829-12-02)December 2, 1829
Westerlo, New York, U.S.
DiedMay 28, 1912(1912-05-28) (aged 82)
Binghamton State Hospital, New York, United States
Other namesJoe Lobdell
Spouses
  • George Washington Slater
  • Marie Louise Perry

Joseph Israel Lobdell (December 2, 1829 – May 28, 1912) was an American hunter and fiddler usually characterized as transgender man.[1][2][3][4] Lobdell was the subject of frequent negative media attention within his lifetime, which characterized his gender nonconformity as a form of insanity;[3] an 1877 New York Times article referred to Lobdell's life as "one of the most singular family histories ever recorded".[5] In later life, he was the subject of an early medical case study regarded as "the first United States to describe a person who would today be understood as transgender."[3] Writer William Klaber wrote an historical novel,[6] which was based on Lobdell's life. An 1883 account by P. M. Wise, which cast Lobdell as a "lesbian", was the first use of that word in an American publication.[7][4]

Life

Joseph Lobdell in later years

Joseph Lobdell was born December 2, 1829, to a working-class family living in Westerlo,[8] Albany County, New York. Lobdell married George Washington Slater, who was reportedly mentally abusive and abandoned Lobdell shortly after the birth of their daughter, Helen.[1] Lobdell was known for marksmanship and nicknamed "The Female Hunter of Delaware County".[9] Lobdell wrote a memoir about their hunting adventures, their disastrous marriage and their feelings about God, ending with a plea for equal employment for women.[1] Lobdell was also known to be an accomplished fiddle player and opened a singing school for a time.[10] While working at the singing school, Lobdell became engaged to a young woman. A rival for her affection learned Lobdell was female and threatened to tar and feather Lobdell. Lobdell's fiancé warned Lobdell, who escaped.[1] Lobdell received an Civil War pension[11] when Slater was killed in the war.[10] Lobdell entered the County Poor House in Delhi, New York, in 1860, where Lobdell met Marie Louise Perry.[10] Perry was a poor but well-educated woman, whose husband left her shortly after they eloped.[1] Lobdell later married Perry in 1861[12] in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. They spent years roaming the woods together with their pet bear, living in nomadic poverty, surviving off hunting, gathering and charity.[13] Then they were arrested for vagrancy and sent to Stroudsburg jail where "discovery that the supposed man was a woman was made".[13] Joseph was later arrested again for wearing male clothes. Marie wrote a letter using a stick and pokeberry ink begging the jail to free her husband.[1]

In 1879, Lobdell was taken away to the Willard Insane Asylum in Ovid, New York.[10] While in the asylum, Lobdell became a patient of Dr. P. M. Wise, who published a brief article, "A Case of Sexual Perversion", in which the doctor noted Lobdell said "she [sic] considered herself a man in all that the name implies".[14] Newspapers published two premature obituaries for Lobdell, first in 1879, then in 1885. Lobdell was presumed to have died on May 28, 1912.[1]

See also

  • Harry Allen (1882–1922), American transgender man featured in sensationalist 20th-century newspaper coverage

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Lobdell, Bambi L. (December 12, 2011). "A Strange Sort of Being": The Transgender Life of Lucy Ann / Joseph Israel Lobdell, 1829-1912. McFarland. ISBN 9780786488452.
  2. ^ Skidmore, Emily (February 9, 2021). True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. NYU Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-4798-9799-5. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Wolf-Gould, Carolyn; Denny, Dallas; Green, Jamison; Lynch, Kyan (February 1, 2025). A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States: From Margins to Mainstream. State University of New York Press. p. 288. ISBN 979-8-8558-0123-1. Retrieved July 18, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Sarah Boslaugh, Transgender Health Issues (2018, ISBN 1440858888), page 166
  5. ^ "A MOUNTAIN ROMANCE.; STRANGE LIFE OF UNHAPPY WOMEN; A SINGULAR FAMILY HISTORY—THE FEMALE HUNTRESS OF LONG EDDY—STRANGE LOVE OF TWO WOMEN—AN ACCOMPLISHED BOSTON GIRL A VOLUNTARY OUTCAST—AN UNFORTUNATE DAUGHTER" (PDF). The New York Times. April 7, 1877. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  6. ^ Klaber, William (2015). The rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell: a novel. St. Martin's Publishing. ISBN 9781250087201. OCLC 946486576.
  7. ^ Emily Skidmore, True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (2017, ISBN 147989799X), page 27
  8. ^ "Lucy Ann Lobdell". www.oneonta.edu. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  9. ^ "The Real Story of the Female Hunter of Delaware County". www.advocate.com. August 2, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  10. ^ a b c d Simon, Ray (October 22, 2015). "Joe Lobdell: tragedy and triumph of a 19th-century transition". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  11. ^ Approved Pension File for Lucy A. L. Slater, Widow of Private George Slater, Company G, 128th New York Infantry Regiment (WC-259782). Series: Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of the Army and Navy Who Served Mainly in the Civil War and the War with Spain, 1861 - 1934. June 16, 2016. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  12. ^ "LucyJoe | Living in the Woods". www.lucyjoe.com. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  13. ^ a b "A Curious Career". National Police Gazette. No. 35. October 25, 1879.
  14. ^ "Lucy Ann Lobdell: P. M. Wise, 'Case of Sexual Perversion', January 1883". outhistory.org. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
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