By 1915, perhaps to leave behind outmoded ideas of him still held in the memories of southern Vermonters, Rollin moved north to Burlington, Vermont, the state’s most populous city. He started as a clerk at Abernethy’s Department Store at the head of Church Street,^[1] becoming head of the drapery department several years later.

In September 1918 (over a year after the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917), Rollin was almost forty and living with his younger sister Marion on South Winooski Avenue in Burlington. He registered for the military draft, possibly in continuing pursuit of official, legal recognition of his manhood.^[2] The draft was only open to men, and the registration form allowed no place for applicants to specify their gender because they were assumed to be male. Registrants for the draft were ipso facto men. In fact, at least one trans person wielded a draft registration card as societal legitimization of identity. In November 1918, Ben/Bertha Schmidt was forcibly outed in St. Louis, Missouri, after marrying a cousin and working as a man for more than a year. When a detective accused Schmidt of masquerading as a man, Schmidt laughed and flourished a draft registration card and marriage certificate in rebuttal.^[3] Furthermore, as a document implying patriotism and willingness to fight for the United States against foreign powers, Rollin’s draft registration also demonstrated his adherence to the standards of White, middle-class masculinity. In the end, he was not called up for the draft.

After several years, Rollin married a second time, this time to Emily Jane Potter (1895–after 1950) on July 15, 1922, in Bath, Maine. She was his coworker at Walter Cory Company, a furniture maker and dealer,^[4] where he ran the decorating department.^[5]

This 2013 photograph of Richardson Place shows the former location of Rollin’s employer, F. D. Abernethy’s, when he lived in Burlington, Vermont. Beyond My Ken, photograph of Richardson Place, Burlington, Vermont, 22 October 2013. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

This photograph from 2024 shows 197 South Winooski Avenue, the building in Burlington, Vermont, where Rollin lived with his sister Marion. Elizabeth A. Allen, photograph of 197 South Winooski Avenue, Burlington, VT, 18 October 2024.

Outside of work, Rollin’s social life apparently revolved around bridge. He and Emily went to a couple’s bridge party in Bath on March 1, 1928. The luncheon event included sandwiches, cake, and coffee.^[6] A few years later in 1931, he won “gentlemen’s first prize,” a set of bridge cards, at another bridge party in Bath.^[7]

In 1930, Rollin twice made local news. In February, his car and another driver’s collided in Bath. Extensive damage resulted to Rollin’s Chrysler sedan and the other car, with a city marshal investigating. Nevertheless, both drivers settled things themselves, apparently without insurance or recrimination.^[8]

Later that year, Rollin appeared on the Bath jury list.^[9] Though women won the right to serve on Maine juries in 1921, juries remained predominantly composed of men in 1930. Thus Rollin’s appearance on the Bath jury list served as another milestone that acknowledged and reinforced his successful feminine-to-masculine social transition.

Rollin was apparently emotionally close to his parents and sisters, visiting and traveling with them frequently. Unfortunately, his parents, longtime snowbirds who moved between Belfast, Maine, and St. Petersburg, Florida, died within a few months of each other. George died on November 25, 1931, in Belfast, Mary on February 3, 1932, in St. Petersburg. The children buried their parents in Lakeview Cemetery in Burlington, Vermont.

Rollin and Emily divorced in January 1937. Emily cited “utter desertion” as the cause, which, despite the connotations of the phrase, did not necessarily imply that Rollin had maliciously abandoned Emily. The phrase merely indicated that the two decided to live separately without plans to resume married life. Indeed, Rollin was recorded as a resident of Burlington, Vermont, and Emily as a resident of Bath, Maine, in the application, so they were living apart from each other when their divorce was finalized.^[10] Whatever the reason for the dissolution of Rollin’s second marriage, it lacked the sensationalism and forced outing of the end of his first marriage. Rollin must have been relieved.

Notes

[1] “Morgan, Rollin K.,” in 1915 Burlington City and Winooski Directory (Hiram S. Hart, 1915), 190.

[2] Rollin’s job title, residence, and registration date come from the U.S. World War I draft registration card for Rollin Kedzie Morgan, serial 3828, order a4048, Chittenden County, Vermont, dated 12 September 1918.

[3] “Woman Posed as Man,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 26 November 1918, 1.

[4] “Morgan-Potter,” Times Record (Brunswick, ME), 19 July 1922, 8.

[5] “Mr. Morgan…has charge of the decorating department in Corey’s in Portland….” “County Campaign for Waldo Hospital,” Bangor (ME) Daily Commercial, 9 August 1922, 2.

[6] “Bath People and Their Friends,” Bath (ME) Daily Times, 2 March 1928, 8.

[7] “Bath People and Their Friends,” Bath (ME) Daily Times, 6 March 1931, 8.

[8] “Notes of Interest Jotted Down,” Bath (ME) Daily Times, 6 February 1930, 5.

[9] “Revised Jury List,” Bath (ME) Daily Times, 7 August 1930, 8.

[10] “Divorces Decreed at January Term,” Bath (ME) Daily Times, 15 January 1937, 2.