Lobdell, John B.

Submitted by Mike Miller

J. B. LOBDELL, OLIVIER.--J. B.. Lobdell was born in West Baton Rouge, July 31, 1858. He is the son of James L. and Angelina A. (Bird) Lobdell both natives of West Baton Rouge.

James L. Lobdell was a prominent planter of the parish, and during the years succeeding the war, 1866, 1867 and 1868, he was a cotton merchant in New Orleans, and member of the firm of Vose & Lobdell. During the administration of Gov. McEnery he was registrar of the State land office; and was elected twice to the Legislature during the reconstruction period, but returning boards, like in all other cases, canceled his election. He was a very prominent Mason, having held every responsible position in that order. He was twice elected grand master, and held the position at the time of his death. He died at the age of fifty-two, in his home at Baton Rouge. Mrs. Lobdell was reared and educated in West Baton Rouge. Her father. J. A. Bird, was one of the most prominent planters in the State. She is still living on her Belle Vale plantation in West Baton Rouge.

The subject of this sketch is the eldest of a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, viz.: John B., our subject; Belle, James L., Caroline, Angelina, Pearl, Eva, Lavinia, William A. and Jennie. He spent his boyhood days until the age of fourteen in West Baton Rouge, where he received his primary education. At the age of fourteen he entered Roanoke College, Roanoke, Virginia, from which institution he returned home, at the age of nineteen, and engaged as manager of his father's plantation, and during this time he was instrumental in organizing the Young Delta Rifles, of which organization he was elected captain, which position he held for four years. In 1886 he removed to Baton Rouge, and was engaged as clerk in the land office and book-keeper for the Knox saw-mill. While there he was elected first lieutenant of the Baton Rouge Fencibles. During the strike of 1887 his company was sent to Houma, under Col. Price, to quell the disturbance. In 1888 Mr. Lobdell removed to St. Mary's parish, and accepted the position of assistant manager of the Fusilier plantation. Here he remained two years, when he purchased the Olive Branch plantation, in Iberia parish, and has since that time been engaged in planting cane. His plantation is situated five miles below New Iberia, on the east bank of the Teche. Two hundred acres of the plantation are cultivated in cane and corn. It is protected from overflow by a back levee, and is one of the most valuable plantations in this section. In 1881 Mr. Lobdell married Miss Elizabeth H. Randolph, a native of Pointe Coupee parish. She is the daughter of Dr. Peter Randolph, a planter and prominent physician of the parish. Mrs. Lobdell was educated in New Orleans, in Miss Prentiss' Private Seminary. Mr. and Mrs. Lobdell are the parents of three children, viz: Josephine, Elizabeth and John Randolph.

Southwest Louisiana Biographical and Historical, Biographical Section, pp. 118-121. Edited by William Henry Perrin. Published in 1891, by The Gulf Publishing Company.