Robert S. Findlay

ROBERT S. FINDLAY, clerk of the courts of Clarke County, is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Franklin County, near Chambersburg, March 29, 1832, the only son of John and Sarah (Smith) Findlay, natives also of the Keystone State, but of Scotch descent. Robert S. passed his boyhood and youth in his native county, attending the common schools and later Marshall College, at Mercersburg. After leaving school he was employed as a clerk in a mercantile house three years and then engaged in business on his own account.  During the war of the Rebellion he was a staunch Union man, and enlisted in defense of the old flag, and was assigned to Company C., One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry. He served nine months, participating in the battles at Fredericksburg, Antietam and Chancellorsville. In 1868 he came to Iowa and settled in Woodburn, Clarke County, where he lived until 1880 engaged in the mercantile business.  In the fall of 1880 he was elected clerk of the courts, and removed to Osceola, assuming the duties of his office in January, 1881. He was re-elected in 1882, and again in 1884, serving now his third term. He is an efficient and reliable officer, serving his county with perfect satisfaction to his constituents.  Mr. Findlay was married in 1876, to Miss Emma J. Lash, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. They have a family of five children, two sons and three daughters. Mr. Findlay is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and has passed all the chairs of his lodge. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, serv-[ing] his post as commander. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 373-4