Individual Details

Spencer Furr is all man but legal records say he is a woman. Furr has been married 13 years, served in the Army, drives for Queen City Trailways and chews on a fat black cigar. He was born Feb. 15, 1922 in Stanly County, N.C. Or was he? When he went into the Army in the early 1940s, he discovered that according to records he was a girl, born in 1923. Furr believes the mistake was made by the doctor who delivered him in 1922. The doctor, reasons Furr, probably forgot to send in the certificate for almost a year. When he did, he forgot whether he had delivered a boy or a girl.He has compiled evidence of his masculinity and age -- his mother's word, anold family Bible, school records indicating he started to school in 1928, and a 1930 census report stating he was an 8-year-old boy. Furr said the mistake has been corrected in county records at Albemarle but not by the state, though he has a stack of letters several inches thick showing his efforts.

During March and April of 1965 a story about Stanly County native Spencer Lee Furr made national news. According to the story, Furr had spent many years trying to clear up the fact that legal records showed he was born a girl.
Furr was born in the Stanfield area of Stanly County on February 15, 1922. When he enlisted in the Army in January of 1943 it was discovered that his birth certificate showed he was a girl born in February of 1923.
Furr believed that the mistake had occurred right after he was born. He assumed that the doctor who birthed him failed to submit his birth certificate for almost a year. At that point the doctor likely had forgotten whether he had delivered a boy or girl and ended up submitting if incorrectly.
After the mistake was discovered in the early 40’s Furr spent at least 20+ years trying to get it corrected. He compiled proof that included his mother’s word, an old family bible, school records, the 1930 census, etc.
Eventually Furr was able to get records corrected in Stanly County but at the time when this story made the news he had not been able to get his birth certificate corrected. According to the March 11, 1965 Greensboro Record, Furr stated “I guess I’ll write some more letters. Honestly, sometimes I feel like dropping the whole thing, it’s such a mess. But I do feel everybody needs a correct birth certificate. And I want mine.”
UPDATE: I spoke to someone at the Stanly County Register of Deeds office this week and they confirmed that the birth certificate they have on record for Spencer Lee Furr does show he was born a boy on February 15, 1922. Evidently his hard work finally paid off.

• 

Birth	15 Feb 1922	Stanly County, NC
Marriage	3 Nov 1946	Gaston County, NC - Katherine Archie MORROW
Marriage	19 Feb 1952	Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, NC - Frances Imogene "Jean" BOST
Death	2 Mar 1992	Stallings, Union County, NC
Soc Sec No		237-32-4740
Military		in World War II
Burial		Sunset Memory Gardens, Mint Hill, Mecklenburg County, NC

Spouse

Frances Imogene "Jean" BOST (1924 - 2008)

Spouse

Katherine Archie MORROW (1926 - 1982)

Father	Dock Franklin FURR (1884 - 1970)
Mother	Laura Alice LOVE (1887 - 1974)
Sibling	Huston FURR (1905 - 1968)
Sibling	Myrtle Jane FURR (1907 - 1990)
Sibling	Paul FURR (1910 - 1981)
Sibling	Lucy Mae FURR (1912 - 1998)
Sibling	Willie Alexander FURR (1914 - 1957)
Sibling	Robert Nelson FURR (1915 - 1997)
Sibling	Mildred FURR (1918 - 1983)
Sibling	Worth FURR (1920 - 2006)
Sibling	Mary Frances "Deesie" FURR (1926 - 1996)

Notes