JANESVILLE, Wis — Women's history month can't come to a close without highlighting the accomplishments of an early 20th-century trailblazer. The Rock County policing pioneer Mary Whelan paved the way for future generations to follow.

"I thought that was kind of an amazing story back then," Rock County Sheriff Troy Knudson said about his online newspaper research for a heritage project he was completing. While searching for how deputies dealt with the Spanish Flu, one particular 1917 headline came as a shock.

"Stumbled across this, this article about our first female deputy," Sheriff Knudson said. The 29-year-old Suffragette Mary Whelen came as a surprise since the department thought the first female deputy started in the '70s.

"It made the story so much richer and really brought back a piece of our heritage, that I think had probably been lost and forgotten," he said about a woman who shortly before accepting the position served as Beloit's first female municipal court clerk.

Whelan didn't remain long as a deputy. She had other important things to do in D.C.

"She constantly recreated her career," Janesville Historian and Hedberg Public Library Librarian Mary Buelow said.

Buelow learned Whelan joined what would become Herbert Hoover's regulatory U.S. Food Administration.  

"I hadn’t known until today know how she transitioned from food to narcotics," she said about connecting the dots with Sheriff Knudson.

Research suggests her true calling happened while at Washington College of Law, later American University, when Whelan fought Coca-Cola in court for its’ secret addictive ingredient: cocaine.

"You see she had a significant impact, not just here locally in rock county but our whole country," Sheriff Knudson said.

Because in the roaring ’20s, Buelow says Whelan became the country’s first female undercover drug agent— and netted the feds millions.

"She posed as an addict and arranged a buy of narcotic, and then that led to the arrest of the first person who then seemed to have turned because all of a sudden they had this whole ring," Buelow said.

During the Depression, Whelan resigned and returned to her Rock County roots. She opened the only female law firm in the area and became an advocate for addicts.

"She felt that the future of dealing with these problems is through treatment and through a medical approach to some of these addiction problems and you know that's become more and more of a conversation today. So, once again, she is just ahead of the time," Sheriff Knudson said.

Captain Kimberly Litsheim fascinated by Whelan's story and still feels a century later grateful the inspirational woman shattered the sheriff’s office all-male glass ceiling. 

"To hear his amazing news, and in some reports say it was the first female deputy in the state of Wisconsin, you take a lot of pride in that," Captain Litsheim

Buelow admits, on the whole, Whelan's story sounds far-fetched, but that's why it's so incredible.

"People would not believe it was real. They would believe okay, nice, nice literary license here," Buelow laughed.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Knudson just thankful no literary license was needed for the Sheriff's Office story.

"What amazing history this woman must have had," he said.  

Whelan had no children and her inheritance was given to her law school alma mater — as well as to friends in Beloit and Racine. Sheriff Knudson says he would love to create a shadow box at the law enforcement center to honor her, should any of her legacy items return.