SCOTUS
633
SCRANTON
Castle. He was brought to trial at the sessions at
Newgate in company of Ven. George Beesley (30
June, 1591), and was condemned on account of his
priesthood and of his being in the country contrary
to the Statute. The next day he was drawn to Fleet
Street, where he suffered martyrdom. Topcliffe said
that he had that day done the queen and the king-
dom a singular piece of service in ridding the realm
of such a praying and fafsting papist as had not his
peer in Europe.
Privy Council Registers in the Public Record Office; Douay Diaries (London, 1878); Pollen, Acts of the English Martyrs (London, 1891); Pollen, English Martyrs in Publ. of the Cath. Rec. Soc. V (London, 1908).
J. L. Whitfield. Scotus, Adam. See Adam Scotus.
Scotus, Joannes Duns. See Duns Scotus, John.
Scotus, Marianus. See Marianus Scotus.
Scottus (Scottigena) , Joannes. See Eriugena, John Scotus.
Scranton, Diocese of (Scrantonensis), a suf- fragan see of Philadelphia, U.S. A., established on 3 March, 1868, comprises the Counties of Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Tioga, Sullivan, Wyoming, Lycoming, Pike, and Monroe, all in the north-eastern part of Pennsylvania; area, 8,487 sq. miles.
Scranton, the episcopal see, is in the heart of the anthracite region and is a progressive city of 130,000 inhabitants (1910). Other large cities are Wilkes- Barre, Williamsport, Hazelton, Carbondale, and Pitts- ton. The pioneer Catholic settlers were principally of Irish and German descent, but in recent years the coal-mining industry has attracted numerous European labourers, mostly of the Slav and Italian races, until these now number almost one-half of the Catholic population.
Early History. — Although many of the pioneer settlers were Catholic immigrants, yet the first official visit of a priest to this territory of which there is any authentic record was in 1787. In that year Rev. James Pellentz travelled up the Susquehanna River as far as Elmira, ministering to the Catholics scat- tered through this region. He returned to Baltimore, whence he had come, and reported conditions to his superiors. A few years after the visit of Father Pel- lentz the famous French settlement of Asylum or "Azilum" was founded (1793-94). The site chosen was on the banks of the Susquehanna River, oppo- site the present village of Standing-Stone, Bradford County. It seems to have been planned as a retreat for the nobility, who were forced to flee from the ter- rors of the French Revolution, and it was evidently intended that the queen herself should take refuge there. The most conspicuous building in the village, the "Queen's house" or "La grande maison", as it was generally calUni, was built and furnished for her special accommodation. These plans, however, mis- carried, for before the house was completed the un- fortunate queen had followed her husband to the guillotine. For ten years this unique settlement flourished. It was made up, as we are told, of "some of the nobility and gentlemen of the court of Louis XVI, several of the clergy, a few mechanics and a number of the labouring class' ' . The village consisted of about fift}^ houses. At the close of the Revolution most of the prominent refugees at Asylum accepted the invitation of Napoleon and returned to France. In 1804 we find the settlement practically abandoned.
This settlement was evidently made up almost en- tirely of French Catholics, and among them a few priests. From a contemporary writer we learn that among the inhabitants of Asylum in 1795 was a cer- tain "M. Carles, a priest and canon of Guernsey" and also a "M. Becdellierre, formerly a canon".
Religious services in the settlement were conducted by
Ezra Fromentin, "acting priest in the little log
chapel" and M. Carles. We read also of a certain
Abbe Colin, who, after the abandonment of the set-
tlement, went to the West Indies as chaplain in the
army. Mention is also made of a beautiful illumi-
nated Missal used there in the religious services, and
afterwards presented to the Vatican Museum. To-
day scarcely a trace of this unique and interesting
settlement remains. The earliest permanent Cath-
olic settlements were at Friendsville and Silver Lake,
Susquehanna County. These, as well as the other
Catholic settlers scattered throughout this district,
were attended occasionally by priests sent from
Philadelphia. In 1825, largely through the solicita-
tions of Mr. Patrick Griffin, father of Gerald GriflSn,
the Irish novelist, dramatist, and poet, then a resident
of Susquehanna County, Bishop Kenrick, of Phila-
delphia, sent Rev. John O'Flynn as the first resident
pjistor. His work, however, was rather that of a
missionary, as his field of labour comprised thirteen
counties in north-eastern Pennsylvania and five
counties in New York State. The first church was
built in 1825 near Silver Lake. Father O'Flynn died
at Danville in 1829, and was succeeded by Father
Clancy. On 1 Feb., 1836, Rev. Henry Fitzsimmons
was sent to take charge of this territory, and took up
his residence at Carbondale, where a church had been
built in 1832, Silver Lake being attended from Car-
bondale as a mission. In 1838 Rev. John Vincent
O'Reilly was sent by Bishop Kenrick to assist in ad-
ministering to the Catholics of this extensive terri-
tory. He took up his residence at Silver Lake, and
his charge comprised the Counties of Susquehanna,
Bradford, Tioga, Potter, and Sullivan in Pennsyl-
vania, and the five adjoining counties in New York
State. The early history of the diocese is intimately
bound up with the truly heroic labours of Father
O'Reilly, and the foundations of many of the present
parishes were the results of his missionary zeal. His
fruitful career was brought to an untimely end at
the railway station at Susquehanna, 4 Oct., 1873. He
was killed while rescuing a friend from the path of an
approaching train.
Bishops.— Rt. Rev. William O'Hara, D. D., the first bishop, was born at Dungiven, County Deny, Ireland, 14 Apr., 1816, where his early education was received. His philosophical and theological studies were made at the Urban College of the Propaganda, Rome, where he was ordained, 21 Dec, 1842. His first appointment was as assistant at St. Patrick's Church, Philadelphia. He was afterwards made rec- tor and professor of moral theology at St. Charles's Seminary. In 1856 he was appointed pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Philadelphia, where he remained until his consecration as Bishop of Scranton, 12 July, 1868. The diocese then numbered 50 churches and 25 priests. To meet the needs of his rapidly growing diocese, he built St. Patrick's Orphanage, The House of the Good Shepherd, and St. Thomas's College. During the thirty years of his administration he saw the diocese increase till it numbered 121 churches and 152 priests. He died on 3 Feb., 1899, and is buried under the main altar of the cathedral of Scranton.
Rt. Rev. Michael John Hoban, D. D., the second bishop, was born at Waterloo, New Jersey, 6 June, 1853. His early education was received at Hawley, Pennsylvania, whither his parents moved shortly after his birth. He afterwards attended St. Francis Xavier's College (New York), Holy Cross College (Worcester, Massachusetts), and St. John's College (Fordham). After one year at St. Charles's Seminary, Overbrook, he entered the American College, Rome, in 1875, where he was ordained to the priesthood, 22 May, 1880. His first appointment was as assistant at Towanda. He afterwards laboured successively as assistant at Pittston and pastor at Troy. In 1887
