True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
by Emily Skidmore
Queer Places:
1124 N Rockton Ave, Rockford, IL 61103, USA
Greenwood Cemetery, 1011 Auburn St, Rockford, IL 61103, United States
Frank Dubois aka Cordelia "Delia" Derthick Hunson Outcalt (March 1, 1853 - July 1, 1920) was born on March 1, 1853, in Belvidere, Boone County, Illinois, to Nelson Henry Derthick and Margaret (Travis) Derthick. She grew up in a prominent, well-to-do local family alongside her siblings, including her brother David and sister Mamie.
On May 21, 1871, at age 18, Delia married Samuel Hudson (sometimes recorded as Hunson) in Boone County, Illinois. The couple settled in northern Illinois—appearing on the 1880 Federal Census in Forreston, Ogle County—and together had two daughters, including Mary (later Mrs. Mary Ledgett).
During the early 1880s, Delia rejected traditional domestic expectations, adopted masculine attire, and expressed a clear male identity. According to contemporary accounts from acquaintances like a Mrs. Dewitt, Delia was known to wear men's clothing, assert that he was a man, and declare that he would no longer keep house for his husband and intended to marry a woman.
In 1883, Delia left the family home in Belvidere and moved north across the state border to the small town of Waupun, Wisconsin. Assuming the identity of Frank Dubois, he established himself in the community as a hardworking man. Shortly thereafter, Frank met and married a young local woman named Gertrude Fuller. The couple lived together as husband and wife for approximately eight months, with Gertrude and her mother initially defending Frank’s identity against rumors.
The situation exploded into a national news sensation in late 1883 when Samuel Hudson tracked Delia to Waupun accompanied by their two young daughters. Newspapers across the country—including the Chicago Tribune and the Benton Weekly Record—extensively covered the "Hudson-Dubois affair."
Upon being discovered, Frank and Gertrude fled Waupun to nearby Brandon, Wisconsin, sparking a weeks-long regional manhunt and widespread speculation in the press regarding gender roles, deception, and motivation. Frank Dubois was eventually apprehended by law enforcement in late November 1883.
Following the public sensationalism of 1883, the legal and social entanglements with Samuel Hudson eventually subsided. Samuel Hudson died on November 24, 1895.
Around 1896, Delia married William W. Outcalt, a widower with several adult children. The couple settled in Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois, where they appeared in the 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses. In census entries and local directories from 1910 onward, she frequently went by the name Frances C. Outcalt or Mrs. Delia Outcalt. In 1911, the couple resided at 1124 Rockton Avenue in Rockford.
Delia Outcalt died on July 1, 1920, at the age of 67, following a stroke/paralysis at the home of her daughter, Mary Ledgett, at 2425 North Court Street in Rockford. Funeral services were conducted at the McAllister Funeral Home on Mulberry Street, and she was interred at Greenwood Cemetery in Rockford. Her obituaries remembered her primarily through her role as a mother, stepmother, and wife to William Outcalt.
Frank Dubois's life is a notable 19th-century example of non-conforming gender identity, male passing, and same-sex marriage within American history.
Frank Dubois’s deliberate adoption of male clothing, masculine identity, rejection of female marital expectations, and desire to marry a woman mirror patterns seen across 19th-century "female-to-male" historical figures who lived successfully as men in small-town America until exposed by external relatives or legal authorities.
Late 19th-century American newspapers frequently sensationalized cases of gender-crossing and same-sex unions as "masquerades" or "deceptions," documenting community reactions, legal pursuits, and Victorian anxieties surrounding gender boundaries.
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True Sex: The Lives of Trans Men at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Emily Skidmore |
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