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
