Joseph Lobdell

Joseph Lobdell
Lucy Ann Lobdell in braids, beads, and feathers, ca. 1853
Born Lucy Ann Lobdell
(1829-12-02)December 2, 1829
Died 1912
Binghamton State Hospital, New York
Nationality American
Other names Joe Lobdell, Lucy Ann Slater
Spouse(s) George Washington Slater
Marie Louise Perry

Joseph Lobdell (born in 1829 as Lucy Ann Lobdell), was a 19th-century person assigned female at birth who lived as a man for sixty years.[1] 20th-century scholars have labeled Lobdell a lesbian; others have argued that Lobdell was really a transgender man.[2] An 1877 New York Times article referred to Lobdell's life as "one of the most singular family histories ever recorded."[3] Writer William Klaber wrote an historical novel, The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell,[4] which was based on Lobdell's life.

Life

Joseph Lobdell in later years

Lucy Ann Lobdell was born December 2, 1829 to a working-class family living in Westerlo,[5] 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." [2] He wrote a memoir about his hunting adventures, his disastrous marriage and his feelings about god, ending with a plea for equal employment for women. [1] He was also known to be an accomplished fiddle player and opened a singing school for a time.[6] While working at the singing school, he became engaged to a young woman. A rival for her affection learned Lobdell was assigned female at birth and threatened to tar and feather him. Lobdell's fiancé warned him and he escaped. [1]Lobdell received a Civil War pension[7] when Slater was killed in the war.[6] Lobdell entered the County Poor House in Delhi, N.Y., in 1860, where he met Marie Louise Penny.[6] Penny was a poor but well educated woman, whose husband left her shortly after they eloped. [1]He later married Penny in 1861[8] in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. They spent years roaming the woods together with their pet bear, living in mobile poverty, surviving off hunting, gathering and charity. Joseph was a preacher who, “proclaimed himself a prophet” while Marie played the part of the reverend’s wife [9]. Then they were arrested for vagrancy and sent to Stroudsburg jail where, “discovery that the supposed man was a woman was made,” as The National Police Gazette put it. [10] 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.[6] 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 considered herself a man in all that the name implies."[11] Newspapers published two premature obituaries for him, first in 1879, then in 1885. His wife had no reason to doubt the later ones. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lobdell, Bambi L. (2011-12-12). "A Strange Sort of Being": The Transgender Life of Lucy Ann / Joseph Israel Lobdell, 1829-1912. McFarland. ISBN 9780786488452.
  2. 1 2 "The Real Story of the Female Hunter of Delaware County". www.advocate.com. 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  3. ↑ "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). query.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  4. ↑ Klaber, William (2015-01-01). The rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell: a novel. ISBN 9781250087201.
  5. ↑ "Lucy Ann Lobdell". www.oneonta.edu. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Simon, Ray (October 22, 2015). "Joe Lobdell: tragedy and triumph of a 19th-century transition". Philadelphia Gay News. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  7. ↑ "Approved Pension File for Lucy A. L. Slater, Widow of Private George Slater, Company G, 128th New York Infantry Regiment (WC-259782)". National Archives Catalog. June 16, 2016.
  8. ↑ "LucyJoe | Living in the Woods". www.lucyjoe.com. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  9. ↑ "A Curious Career". National Police Gazette (35). October 25, 1879. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  10. ↑ "A Curious Career". National Police Gazette (35). October 25, 1879. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  11. ↑ "Lucy Ann Lobdell: P.M. Wise, "Case of Sexual Perversion," January 1883 · Gender-Crossing Women, 1782-1920 · outhistory.org". outhistory.org. Retrieved 2016-06-16.
  • Klaber, William (2015-02-17). The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell: A Novel. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9781466867956.
  • Lobdell, Lucy Ann (1855). Narrative of Lucy Ann Lobdell, the female hunter of Sullivan and Delaware Counties, N.Y. New York: New-York : Published for the authoress, 1855. OCLC 54271838.
  • Minnesota’s ‘Wild Woman’ charged with impersonating a man in 1858
  • Approved Pension File for Lucy A. L. Slater, Widow of Private George Slater, Company G, 128th New York Infantry Regiment (WC-259782)
  • Lobdell, Bambi Lyn (2007-01-01). "A man in all that the name implies: Reclassification of Lucy Ann/Joseph Israel Lobdell". STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BINGHAMTON.
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