Sutter-Yuba-Santa Cruz County CA Archives Biographies.....Mahon, Kirby Smith 1869 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 7, 2012, 10:59 pm

Source: See below
Author: Peter J. Delay

    HON. KIRBY SMITH MAHON.— Favorably known and highly esteemed as a judge of
the Superior Court of Sutter County, to which he has the distinction of being
the first to be elected, Judge Mahon ascended to the bench in January, 1903, and
has filled the office with dignity and ability ever since Possessing personal
magnetism, a thorough knowledge of human nature, and sound judgment, he has met
with enviable success on the bench, his decisions being recognized for their
justice and wisdom. A son of Rev W. J Mahon, he was born September 2, 1862, near
Dyersburg, Tenn. His grandfather Mahon emigrated from Ireland to the United
States, and after serving in the War of 1812 settled as a, farmer in North
Carolina, and there died. 

    A native of North Carolina, W. J. Mahon received excellent educational
advantages, and was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. He subsequently located near Dyersburg, Tenn., where he became owner of a
plantation, and also preached. During the Civil War he served under General
Kirby Smith, ranking as major, after which he continued his residence and work
in Tennessee. Coming to California in 1874, he preached in San Francisco for a
year, and then returned to Tennessee for his family. On coming back to the
Pacific Coast, he located in Gilroy for two years, and then was presiding elder
for the Visalia district for four years. He then went to Santa Rosa and had
charge of that district until 1885, when he came to Yuba City and served as
pastor of the Methodist Church four years. His next appointment was as presiding
elder of the Modesto District, then called the Merced District, and this office
he filled for two years. The subsequent year he was pastor at Merced, and then
returned to Modesto, where he was pastor four years. Returning again to Yuba
City, he filled the pulpit one year, after which he retired from the ministry
and lived in Bakersfield until his death, on the anniversary of his birth,
September 23, 1904, at the age of eighty-eight. He was a Mason, and had attained
to the Knights Templar degree. His wife, whose maiden name was Phoebe Wood, was
born in Halifax County, Va., and died in Modesto in 1899. Of five children born
of their union, four grew to maturity: Stephen W., an attorney and a prominent
citizen of Kern County; Jackson W., who has been serving as superior judge of
Kern County since January, 1897; Kirby Smith, of this review; and Mattie, wife
of Charles W. Eastin, of San Francisco. 

    Coming with his parents to the Pacific Coast when thirteen years old, Kirby
S. Mahon continued his schooling in the Gilroy public schools, and then entered
the Pacific Methodist College at Santa Rosa, graduating in 1885 with the degree
of Ph. B. Returning to the home of his parents in Yuba City, he worked for a
year on a ranch in Sutter County, and then began to read law with S. J. Stabler.
At the end of six months, Mr. Stabler moved from the city; and in consequence
Mr. Mahon completed his studies under Judge Keyser, then judge of the Superior
Court of Yuba and Sutter Counties. In July, 1888, he was admitted to the bar. A
few months later he was nominated for district attorney on the Democratic
ticket. Notwithstanding the county was strongly Republican, he was elected by a
majority of 113 votes, being the only Democrat to secure an election. He took
the office in January, 1889, and in 1891 was reelected. In the fall of 1902 he
was nominated for judge of the superior court and was elected, assuming the
duties of the office in January, 1903. 

    In Santa Cruz, Cal., Judge Mahon married Elizabeth Rennie, born in Sutter
County, of Scotch ancestry. Her father, William Rennie, a native of Scotland,
came to California as a pioneer in 1849, and was one of the first men to grow
wheat in the State. His wife was in maidenhood Margaret Dawson, also a native of
Scotland. Both lived to advanced years. Mrs. Mahon is a woman of culture, and
after her graduation from the San Jose Normal was engaged in teaching until her
marriage. One child was born of their union, Rennie Jackson Marion. The Judge is
a member of the Masons, the Elks and the Woodmen of the World. He served many
years as chairman of the Democratic Central Committee of Sutter County, and of
the State Central Committee. He is a Methodist. 


Additional Comments:

HISTORY OF YUBA and SUTTER COUNTIES 
CALIFORNIA 
WITH 
Biographical Sketches OF 
The Leading Men and Women of the Counties Who Have Been Identified with Their
Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present 

HISTORY BY 
PETER J. DELAY 

ILLUSTRATED 
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1924


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