Husband Hon. George Stuart Criswell 1 2 3 4
Born: 7 Apr 1850 - Richland Twp, Venango Co, PA 1 4 5
Christened:
Died: Aft 1926
Buried: 2 Sep 1928 - Franklin Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA
Father: Robert Chesney Criswell (1813-1897) 2 3 4
Mother: Hannah Nickle (1814-1893) 2 4 6
Marriage: 26 Nov 1879 1 5 7
• Additional Image: Hon. George S. Criswell.
Wife Flora A. Smith 5 7 8
Born: - Venango Co, PA
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Joseph Harrison Smith (1825- ) 9
Mother: Eliza Margaret Davis ( - ) 9
Children
1 M Chesney Harrison Criswell 1 5 7
Born: 25 Mar 1884 5 7
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
2 M Elisha Wayne Criswell 1 5 7
Born: 5 Nov 1885 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 5 7
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Clara Louise Drake ( - ) 10
Marr: 11 Dec 1914 - Erie, Erie Co, PA 11
3 M George Stuart Criswell, Jr. 1 5 7
Born: 6 Feb 1888 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 5 7
Christened:
Died: 20 Aug 1930 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA
Buried: - Franklin Cemetery, Franklin, Venango Co, PA
Spouse: Gertrude H. Heasley (Abt 1887-Aft 1930) 5 7
Marr: 17 Apr 1915 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA 5 7 12
4 M Richard Lee Criswell 1 5 7
Born: 17 Jul 1889 5 7
Christened:
Died: Jan 1890 5 7
Buried:
Spouse: Did Not Marry
5 M Clarence Crawford Criswell 5 7
Born: 21 Nov 1891 5 7
Christened:
Died: Aug 1965
Buried:
General Notes: Husband - Hon. George Stuart Criswell
He was reared on the old family homestead in Richland Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, and his education was acquired in the public schools and at the Emlenton Academy, known as Tableau Seminary, and he prepared himself to teach, following the profession for five winter terms. In 1873 he began reading law, and the next year entered the office of H. A. Miller, of Franklin, where he furthered his studies industriously, being admitted to the bar in Venango County Sept. 30, 1875. During the next twenty years most of his time was given to general practice, in which he was associated part of the time with the late Hon. J. W. Lee, afterward of Pittsburgh, and F. W. Hastings, of Bradford, Pa., as Lee, Criswell and Hastings. Meantime he had begun his public service, having been appointed March 4, 1872, deputy prothonotary, in which capacity he served two years. Later he represented Venango County for two terms in the State Legislature, and during his last term was chairman of the committee on General Judiciary. He was counsel for the county commissioners in 1879-81, upon the resignation of Hon. Charles E. Taylor he was appointed, by Governor Hastings, as president judge of Venango County, taking the oath of office March 7, 1895. Later the same year he received, without opposition, the Republican nomination for the judgeship, and was elected by a large majority for the full term, ten years. His reelection in 1905 and 1915 (second term beginning the first Monday in January, 1906, and the third the first Monday of January, 1916) is the best evidence of the character of service which he has rendered and its acceptability to the people generally. Judge Criswell is frequently called to other counties to preside at the trial of important cases, having a gift for rendering impartial decisions so well cultivated that they are rarely appealed, and generally sustained. No matter how great the volume of work before him Judge Criswell gives each case the most painstaking attention, his sympathetic attitude enabling him to appreciate to the full its relative importance to the parties concerned, and it is probably this quality more than any other which has made fairness stand out as a fixed element of his nature. It has won him the confidence of both lawyers and their clients to an unusual degree.
Though well occupied with broader duties Judge Criswell has always found time and energy to take a hand in the administration of the municipal government. He has served as a member of the city council of his home city and of the school board in Franklin; as a member of the water commission; and one of the board of trustees of the State Institution for the Feeble Minded at Polk, Venango County. [HVC 1919, 433]
Politically he has always been affiliated with the Republican party. Upon the resignation of the Hon. Charles E. Taylor, he was appointed by Governor Hastings, as president judge of Venango county, and took the oath of office on March 7, 1895. He afterward received without opposition the nomination of the Republican party for the judgeship and was elected by a large majority for the full term of ten years. In about 1905 he was re-elected for another term of ten years, beginning the first Monday of January, 1906. After his elevation to the bench he proved himself to be an ideal judge, and was frequently called to other counties to preside at the trial of important cases. He was by temperament and traits of mind and character as well as by training eminently well fitted for the judiciary. Never a partisan, never rash in deciding a question before a full hearing, he presided at trials with dignity and treated all parties with the greatest courtesy and strictest impartiality and brought to the decision of legal questions a mind naturally clear, calm and judicial, and by training easily able to grasp the controlling question of the case. His decisions are never warped by personal feelings or prejudices and he has also a great capacity for care and painstaking work. As a result his decisions are rarely appealed, and nearly always sustained. [GPHAV, 267]