LOBDELL, J. B., West Baton Rouge then Iberia Parish, Louisiana
Submitted by Mike Miller
Source: Southwest Louisiana Biographical and Historical, Biographical
Section
Date: 25 Oct 1998**********************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
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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 Coupée
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.