Joseph Robert Truscott was born on September 9,1870. At the age of 15, his father moved the family from New York City to the Dakota Territory. In 1891, his father left farming and moved to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. The following year, Joseph Truscott returned to the United States, where he held several jobs in both North Dakota and Minnesota.  After graduating from high school in 1895, he entered the University of Minnesota. He graduated in 1901 with a medical degree. He moved to Binford, North Dakota, and began practicing medicine in August 1902.

That same year, he married Eva Eleonora Florentina of St. Paul, Minnesota. The couple had two children: Robert Leroy (born in 1905) and Donald Lorne (born in 1909). Joseph and Eleanor Truscott lived in Binford throughout their married life. After Eleanor's death in 1928, Joseph Truscott dedicated his life to this medical practice. Upon his retirement in 1947, Binford honored him for 45 years of service to the community. Dr. Truscott died on June 27, 1959.