Joseph Lobdell was one of the first known transgender men of the 20th century. He was a frontier man and a marksman.
Lobdell was born in 1829, as Lucy Ann, in Delaware County, New York. He was thought of as a peculiar child because of his aversion for sports and male labor. In spite of attempts by his parents to socialize him as female, Lobdell showed no interest in men and found himself attracted to females.
Lobdell’s parents and friends pressured him to marry a man at the age of 20. Though he had no affections for his husband and took no pleasure in being with him, he tried to honor his parent’s wishes and be a good wife. After two years he had a child, though the husband left before their daughter was born. Lobdell would return to his family who moved to Long Eddy, New York with his daughter. In 1954, he snuck out, leaving his daughter behind.
He would dress in male attire and embrace his masculinity.
From this point on Lobdell would no longer present female. He would dress in male attire and embrace his masculinity. He would move to Bethany, Pennsylvania where he would open a singing school. It was there where he would begin to date women. Upon being found out about his gender at birth, Lobdell would be run out of town.
He would become a master rifleman and trapper. Lobdell would go on to live among the Indians in Northern Minnesota for several years. At the time he was known as “The Female Hunter of Long Eddy.”
Upon his return to the countryside, Lobdell would write a book on his life as a rifleman living In the woods. He was considered to be intelligent and well written. After becoming ill, Lobdell took refuge in a almshouse for the poor. It was there he would meet his wife, Marie. They would be married by a Justice of the Peace and would spend the next twenty years living as husband and wife. They would live off the land and what Lobdell was able to provide as a hunter and trapper. It is also rumored he had at one point become a minister, but information on the subject is scarce.
He would spend the last 30 years of his live living in mental institutions.
Marie’s uncle would later find out about Lobdell’s assigned gender and have him arrested. After being released, Lobdell’s brother would have him committed as insane to the Willard Insane Asylum in Ovid, New York in 1880. Thought to be a lesbian at time when the concept of transgender was not known, Lobdell would go on to be studied as having metal issues. He was thought to be insane and perverted due to his male identity. He would spend the last 30 years of his live living in mental institutions. Lobdell passed away in 1912 at the Binghamton State Hospital. He was 82 years old.
