W. P. Walter wrote in "The Frankfort Journal": “Miss Mahan displayed remarkable executive ability and was the first woman to have charge of the successful management of a campaign for the nomination for the chief office of this Commonwealth.”
During her term as Secretary of State, she served for six hours as Kentucky’s Governor while Governor Ruby Laffoon and Lieutenant Governor A. B. Chandler were absent from the state. “I wasn’t much of a Governor,” she later said, “but I expect I was the closest Kentucky will come to having a woman Governor for many a day.”
Sara W. Mahan, Secretary of State for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, 1932-1936, was born in Clay County, Kentucky, ca. 1870, the daughter of George D. and Katherine Cain (White) Mahan. She never married.
Mahan entered political life in 1907 when she managed the campaign headquarters of Judge S. W. Hagar, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate. W. P. Walter wrote in "The Frankfort Journal": “Miss Mahan displayed remarkable exec. ability and was the first woman to have charge of the successful management of a campaign for the nomination for the chief office of this Commonwealth.”
In 1908, Mahan became assistant state librarian, a position she held until 1920. From 1920 to 1921, she served as Centre College librarian. During the period 1921-29, she was Boyle County Circuit Court Clerk. She was one of six women who organized the Democratic Women’s Club of Kentucky. In recognition of her skills as an organizer, in 1921 she was one of the first women to become a member of the Democratic State Central and Executive Committee.
Mahan was elected Secretary of State in 1931 in her only statewide race. During her term she served for six hours as Kentucky’s Governor while Governor Ruby Laffoon and Lieutenant Governor A. B. Chandler were absent from the state. “I wasn’t much of a Governor,” she later said, “but I expect I was the closest Kentucky will come to having a woman Governor for many a day.”
In the August 31, 1934, issue of the "Harrodsburg Herald," it was reported Gov. Ruby Laffoon had approved the appointment by the Secretary of State, Miss Sara W. Mahan, of Miss Ora Adams, of Harrodsburg, as Assistant Secretary of State. Miss Adams served during the absence of C. W. Wilson, who had been seriously Ill at his home.in Mayfield. He was scheduled to resume his position when he regained his health.
Miss Adams was the first woman to serve as Assistant Secretary of State although the office of Secretary of State had been held by a woman for the past ten years. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, she was formerly Superintendent of Mercer County schools and, before going to Frankfort in 1929 to work in the Secretary of State's office, she served as Dean of Women at Morehead College.
Mahan was a member of many organizations, including the Democratic Women’s Club of Kentucky, Woman’s Club of Frankfort, and the Business and Professional Women’s Club. She died in Danville, Kentucky, on November 1, 1966, at age 96.
References:
Kentucky Death Index, Office of Vital Statistics;
"Louisville Courier-Journal," November 2, 1966;
Southard, Mary Young, and Miller, Ernest C. "Who’s Who in Kentucky: A Biographical Assembly of Notable Kentuckians," Louisville, 1936.
