Growing up in in the City of London Ontario, it wasn't far to the sleepy little town of Lucan Ontario. I remember the first time I went to Lucan. A neighbor who was an avid sportsman kindly took me on my first real fishing trip to Lucan. Bob Simpson, Bless him, took me up there and we caught a whole string of pike. They put up a hell of a fight and in spite of all the bones were delicious. We had to walk through a woods to get to the fishing hole and past an old disused rail line and I remember there was even an old caboose on the track. For a summers day, I recall that it seemed almost eerily silent around there. Perhaps it was only a silent whisper from the past. After all, one of the most horrendous mass murders in Ontario's history took place there.
I learned a few years later about a strange senseless tragedy that had befallen a family of Irish emigrants from Tipperary named Donnelly that met their end there. James and Johanna Donnelly had come to Canada about 1845, eager to start a family, settle and obtain land on which they could farm and earn a living. Most of the family ended up being brutally slaughtered by a so called group of townsfolk called the Biddulph Peace Society , who had turned into a vicious vigilante group instead, armed with clubs, spades, at least one gun and various other farm implements that could be used as weapons.
They showed up at the Donnelly residence on the old Roman Line, the road so named for the large amount of Roman Catholics that had settled in the area, and they were thirsty for blood and bent on killing every family member there. By the time of this murder, the Donnelly's family had grown to nine. That night on February 4, 1880, this group of cold hearted murderous conspirators gathered and systematically beat and killed 5 family members at the house including James, his wife Johanna, young niece Bridget, brothers, John and Tom. John Jr. had hidden beneath the bed behind a clothes basket and witnessed a lot of the carnage including one of his brothers that had gotten out of the house and was beaten back in where John Jr. heard one of the vigilantes told another one to finish him off with the spade he was holding. He promptly smashed his skull in completing the job.
With this done, they set the house ablaze and they set off to another one of James sons houses about 7 miles away. Will was the eldest son and lived with his wife Nora. At about 2 am they heard someone outside shouting fire come on out. Will had company that night. it was another brother that had come to help Will. When Will's brother opened the door he was shot full of lead and collapsed back into the house. Will and Nora panicked but the vigilante's figured they had shot Will and that was their intent, so after awhile of talking outside they left, and the list went up to 6 dead that night.
The vigilantes in part were identified as being James Carrol, a Police Constable. John Kennedy and James Ryder Jr.. They were believed to be the ring leaders and it was a ruse by the constable of claiming they were there to arrest John Sr. and one of his sons that was already shackled in the kitchen where it's believed he was killed while still shackled. Strangely, the next day, the heads had been cut off and carried away, grisly prizes of the vigilantes themselves no doubt and attributed to looters and curiosity seekers. This prevented any forensic findings. Some of the people involved were in high standing in the community and were thought to be a break off group working alone unbeknownst to the Catholic Parish Priest, Father Connolly, whom was a part of the Biddulph Peace Society. I think it was one of the biggest conspiracies of it's time.
The Donnelly's were squatters on the land they settled and cleared like many people of that time. The landowner was absent for years and eventually sold 25 acres of his land to someone and it happened to be the same 25 James had settled on. This started a feud that ended in the courts. The Donnelly's over the years developed a bad reputation and eventually were blamed for anything and everything. James Sr. was even sentenced to hang for killing a man that had goaded him into a fight. It was said that James had a hand spike in his fist that left a hole in his rival, Patrick Farrell's skull. Patrick was the man that had bought the 25 acres. With James's wife's help, she got his sentence reduced to 7 - 9 years. That must have taken some doing in the 1870's. Otherwise he would have swung to his death in 1858 in the City Of London. James initially evaded capture for nearly a year before giving himself up.
I believe that the Donnelly family were no angels but the townsfolk despised them because they didn't put up with anyone's crap and stood up to any and all. One things for sure, they never deserved to die like that. The people in the town of Lucan were tight lipped about these murders for years and tried to cover it over. I remember myself trying to ask someone in town years ago about the incident for a book report and was totally blanked. Of course with a lot of the murderers families still living in the area, they didn't want to be associated with any of it. The trials were an absolute farce and no one was ever charged with these murders. There's a lot more to this story than I have given you here and it's really quite interesting and shall we say.. a little macabre.
It is said that even today, horses won't ride past the Donnelly homestead after midnight and that their ghosts have been seen hovering low in the fields there.
2011 marked the 131st anniversary of the massacre.
You can read a more in-depth account about this story at www.donnelly's.com, find it on Wikipedia or try to find some of the books posted above. There are several.
Do Have A Good Day And A Peaceful Night.
Jeffrey R Hilton
I learned a few years later about a strange senseless tragedy that had befallen a family of Irish emigrants from Tipperary named Donnelly that met their end there. James and Johanna Donnelly had come to Canada about 1845, eager to start a family, settle and obtain land on which they could farm and earn a living. Most of the family ended up being brutally slaughtered by a so called group of townsfolk called the Biddulph Peace Society , who had turned into a vicious vigilante group instead, armed with clubs, spades, at least one gun and various other farm implements that could be used as weapons.
They showed up at the Donnelly residence on the old Roman Line, the road so named for the large amount of Roman Catholics that had settled in the area, and they were thirsty for blood and bent on killing every family member there. By the time of this murder, the Donnelly's family had grown to nine. That night on February 4, 1880, this group of cold hearted murderous conspirators gathered and systematically beat and killed 5 family members at the house including James, his wife Johanna, young niece Bridget, brothers, John and Tom. John Jr. had hidden beneath the bed behind a clothes basket and witnessed a lot of the carnage including one of his brothers that had gotten out of the house and was beaten back in where John Jr. heard one of the vigilantes told another one to finish him off with the spade he was holding. He promptly smashed his skull in completing the job.
With this done, they set the house ablaze and they set off to another one of James sons houses about 7 miles away. Will was the eldest son and lived with his wife Nora. At about 2 am they heard someone outside shouting fire come on out. Will had company that night. it was another brother that had come to help Will. When Will's brother opened the door he was shot full of lead and collapsed back into the house. Will and Nora panicked but the vigilante's figured they had shot Will and that was their intent, so after awhile of talking outside they left, and the list went up to 6 dead that night.
The vigilantes in part were identified as being James Carrol, a Police Constable. John Kennedy and James Ryder Jr.. They were believed to be the ring leaders and it was a ruse by the constable of claiming they were there to arrest John Sr. and one of his sons that was already shackled in the kitchen where it's believed he was killed while still shackled. Strangely, the next day, the heads had been cut off and carried away, grisly prizes of the vigilantes themselves no doubt and attributed to looters and curiosity seekers. This prevented any forensic findings. Some of the people involved were in high standing in the community and were thought to be a break off group working alone unbeknownst to the Catholic Parish Priest, Father Connolly, whom was a part of the Biddulph Peace Society. I think it was one of the biggest conspiracies of it's time.
The Donnelly's were squatters on the land they settled and cleared like many people of that time. The landowner was absent for years and eventually sold 25 acres of his land to someone and it happened to be the same 25 James had settled on. This started a feud that ended in the courts. The Donnelly's over the years developed a bad reputation and eventually were blamed for anything and everything. James Sr. was even sentenced to hang for killing a man that had goaded him into a fight. It was said that James had a hand spike in his fist that left a hole in his rival, Patrick Farrell's skull. Patrick was the man that had bought the 25 acres. With James's wife's help, she got his sentence reduced to 7 - 9 years. That must have taken some doing in the 1870's. Otherwise he would have swung to his death in 1858 in the City Of London. James initially evaded capture for nearly a year before giving himself up.
I believe that the Donnelly family were no angels but the townsfolk despised them because they didn't put up with anyone's crap and stood up to any and all. One things for sure, they never deserved to die like that. The people in the town of Lucan were tight lipped about these murders for years and tried to cover it over. I remember myself trying to ask someone in town years ago about the incident for a book report and was totally blanked. Of course with a lot of the murderers families still living in the area, they didn't want to be associated with any of it. The trials were an absolute farce and no one was ever charged with these murders. There's a lot more to this story than I have given you here and it's really quite interesting and shall we say.. a little macabre.
It is said that even today, horses won't ride past the Donnelly homestead after midnight and that their ghosts have been seen hovering low in the fields there.
2011 marked the 131st anniversary of the massacre.
You can read a more in-depth account about this story at www.donnelly's.com, find it on Wikipedia or try to find some of the books posted above. There are several.
Do Have A Good Day And A Peaceful Night.
Jeffrey R Hilton
