Nationality American | Died 1912 | |
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Full Name Lucy Ann Lobdell Born December 2, 1829 ( 1829-12-02 ) Other names Joe Lobdell, Lucy Ann Slater Spouse(s) George Washington SlaterMarie Louise Perry Other name Joe Lobdell, Lucy Ann Slater | ||
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. 20th-century scholars have labeled Lobdell a lesbian; others have argued that Lobdell was really a transgender man. An 1877 New York Times article referred to Lobdell's life as "one of the most singular family histories ever recorded." Writer William Klaber wrote an historical novel, The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell , which was based on her life.
Life
Lucy Ann Lobdell was born December 2, 1829 to a working-class family living in Westerlo, Albany County, New York. She married George Washington Slater, who was reportedly mentally abusive and abandoned Lobdell shortly after the birth of their daughter, Helen. Lobdell was known for marksmanship and nicknamed "The Female Hunter of Delaware County." They were also known to be an accomplished fiddle player and opened a singing school for a time. Lobdell received a Civil War pension when Slater was killed in the war. Lobdell entered the County Poor House in Delhi, N.Y., in 1860, where they met Marie Louise Penny. They later married Penny in 1861 in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. In 1879, Lobdell was taken away to the Willard Insane Asylum in Ovid, New York. 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.”