In the book's own words, not ours, with obvious scanning errors fixed. Families often supplied these stories to the publisher, so check key dates.
From History of Washington County, Iowa from the first white settlements to 1908. Also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county (1909)
ROBERT W. GRIFFITH.
Robert W. Griffith, a native of Delaware, came to Clay- township in 1848, his. birth date being September 22, 1804. His Quaker ancestors came from England with William Penn in 1680. In youth he was as strong as Samson, hired out on a farm at eight dollars a month for a year, the next year struck for nine dollars, and the third and fourth years got ten dollars. He saved nearly all his wages and felt justified in marrying, December 27, 1832, Eleanor Long. In 1834 he bought and improved a wilderness two hundred acre farm in Ohio, and stayed till 1846. To his original two hundred acre farm in Clay he added up to two thousand and twenty acres. Thirteen children came to him, and as each left home, he gave, in all nine hundred acres. The log cabin gave way to a fine two story house, and for years his barn was a wonder, its capacity thirty-six horses, one hundred cattle, two hundred tons of hay, costing five thousand dollars. Near by is a famous spring, whose water is furnished by pressure for both house and barn. He was a capital farmer, and his emphatic and picturesque language and epigrams amused the community.
As printed in History of Washington County, Iowa from the first white settlements to 1908. Also biographical sketches of some prominent citizens of the county (1909). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Their biographies name Robert W. Griffith: G. W. Griffith (b. 1844)
The printed record stops around 1909. We trace your line from there down to you, with every source cited.