Black Donnellys

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For the 2007 TV show, see The Black Donnellys.

The Black Donnellys is the common nickname of the Donnelly family; a family that emigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland, to Canada in about 1845-1846, and who participated in a notorious feud in Biddulph Township in Middlesex County, Ontario. Biddulph Township contains the village of Lucan, a location forever linked with this feud.

Contents

[edit] The Donnelly Family

  • James Donnelly - patriarch (1816-1880)
  • Johannah Donnelly - (née Magee, or MacGee) his wife, and mother of all the children (1823-1880)
  • James Donnelly Jr. - son, (1842-1877)
  • William Donnelly - son, born with a clubfoot (1845-1897)
  • John Donnelly - son, the first child born in Canada (1847-1880)
  • Patrick Donnelly - son (1849-1914)
  • Michael Donnelly - son (1850-1879)
  • Robert Donnelly - son (1853-1911)
  • Thomas Donnelly - youngest son (1854-1880)
  • Jenny (Jane) Donnelly - the last child, and the only daughter (1857-1917)
  • Bridget Donnelly - Father James' niece from Ireland (1868-1880)

(Those marked 1880 were killed on February 4.)

[edit] History

[edit] The Feud

The Biddulph feud preceded the emigration of the Donnelly family from Ireland and continued for some 17 years after their deaths. However, from about 1857, the Donnelly family was inextricably wound up with the feud.

The Biddulph feud had its origins in Ireland, and had begun almost two centuries before the elder James Donnelly's birth.

It so happened through an accident of history, that Biddulph Township collected just the right concentration and distribution of Whiteboys, Blackfeet and Orangemen, to cause the Old Country feud to be rekindled. And eventually the Donnellys were consumed in its flames, quite literally burning their way into history.

[edit] The Biddulph Peace Society vigilantes

Evidence indicates that The Biddulph Peace Society or some of its individual members may have been responsible for some of the arson, property damage and physical violence cases in Biddulph.

The Peace Society's role was to uphold their Code, something the Donnellys were never shy about ignoring. James Donnelly was liberal enough that at one point he even donated money to the building of an Anglican church, outraging the Biddulph Peace Society in the process.

[edit] The Death of Patrick Farrell

The Donnellys immigrated to Canada in 1847. The early years of the Donnelly family in Canada were uneventful. Father James cleared land, farmed and had some children. The soon-to-be-famous feud raged around him with its trademark arson and fist-fights but James and his family were not involved. However, that was soon to change.

In the spring of 1847, new immigrant Jim Donnelly of humble means, ended up squatting on the south-east quarter of Lot 18, Concession 6 (also known as the Roman Line), Biddulph Township, Ontario. He did not have the money to actually purchase that land from its absentee landlord, who had originally bought the land from the Canada Company, apparently hoping no one would ever come by to claim it. It is not known whether or not Jim Donnelly actually knew that the piece of wilderness he had decided on was owned by anyone. Squatting was a very common North American frontier practice and one often supported by the courts of the land in the establishment of common law property rights.

In 1856 or 1857, Patrick Farrell purchased land containing the quarter that Jim Donnelly had squatted on, and was naturally surprised to discover Donnelly's occupation once he arrived from Ireland to take possession of his land. The matter went to court in 1857, with Farrell wishing to evict Donnelly. The disputants eventually agreed to allow Donnelly to keep and reside on 25 acres of that land, which was something less than what Donnelly had actually cleared over the ten years he had occupied it.

Farrell, in spite of his agreement in court, was bitter about having had to give up some of the acreage he had paid for, and vocally lambasted the Donnellys in public for it. During a barn raising bee on Saturday, June 27, 1857, James Donnelly became engaged in a drunken brawl with Farrell, killing Farrell by a blow to the head with a handspike thrown by Jim Donnelly. It is this incident that is generally considered to have drawn the Donnelly family into the feud. Pat Farrell died on June 29th, and Jim Donnelly then became a wanted man. (Interestingly, Farrell's very young son was adopted by the Donnellys, and was brought up by them until adulthood.) By the time police had arrived to arrest Jim however, he had seemingly disappeared and his wife Johannah refused to speak on the subject. He had, it was later discovered, been staying in the barn, and working the fields dressed in his wife's clothing. Almost two years later, Jim turned himself in to Jim Hodgins, a sympathetic Justice of the Peace

Jim was sentenced to be hanged on September 17, 1859. A petition for clemency started by wife Johannah saw his sentence reduced to seven years in Kingston Penitentiary.

[edit] Massacre

During the early-morning hours of February 4, 1880, a group of approximately 30 townsmen, members of the Biddulph Peace Society under the leadership of the town's police Constable James Carroll, stormed the Donnelly household. They used crude farming instruments and clubs to kill Jim, Johannah, their son, Tom, and their 12-year-old niece, Bridget, who was visiting from Ireland. The invaders fled after setting the house on fire.

An 11-year-old farmhand named Johnny O'Connor, who was staying the night with the family, had hidden under a bed and was ignored during the massacre; apparently the assailants did not see him. He eventually escaped to a nearby farmhouse and later became the primary witness in the trial against the vigilantes, who had since stormed off to Will Donnelly's house -- where they mistakenly shot and killed John Donnelly, thinking that it was Will who answered the door, before retreating into the night.

[edit] The trials

There were two trials in London, Ontario, at the courthouse on Ridout Street. The first one in October 1880 ended in a hung jury.

The second trial occurred in January 1881. During preparations, the prosecution, led by Aemilius Irving and Charles Hutchinson, displayed evidence of involvement in the massacre by the Biddulph Peace Society, up to and including the parish priest, Father John Connolly.

The most damning evidence was to come from two brothers, Jim and Bill Feeheley, Whiteboys known to have been involved in the crime. Since the massacre, they had been showing signs of remorse, and had confessed to the authorities. They had apparently been paid off by a nervous Biddulph Peace Society to leave the area forever. This they did, emigrating to Michigan. The prosecution successfully had them extradited from Michigan back to Biddulph to stand trial, but then the prosecution had second thoughts.

The prosecutor, according to Orlo Miller, eventually decided that the potential damage and death toll from a successful conviction was too great. The introduction of Father John Connolly as a suspect was a dangerous proposition when much of the audience was strongly polarized along religious lines. So the matter was dropped.

To this day, the feud is largely considered a taboo subject in the region. There is, however, a local museum about the Donnellys to take advantage of the notoriety of the story for the tourist trade.

[edit] Why the Donnellys?

Why the Donnellys and no other Biddulph family were the victim of such slaughter is a matter of conjecture. Among the plausible reasons:

  • James Donnelly Sr. never paid for the land he occupied.
  • James Donnelly Sr. killed John Farrell.
  • The Donnellys were Blackfeet and were unafraid to show it.
  • Enthusiastic participation by the Donnelly boys in the feud.
  • Personal animosity between the Donnellys and the members of the Biddulph Peace Society, or the "vigilance committee".

It's probable that all of the above played a role, although it's most likely that the deciding factor was the last one. After killing five members of the Donnelly family, the mob is believed to have headed for the Donnellys' friends and closest neighbours, the Keeffes, before deciding against further killing. It is possible that given a change in circumstances, the death toll would have been even higher and the Donnelly name might not have been quite so closely and uniquely identified with the feud.

[edit] Cultural References

Stompin' Tom Connors wrote two songs entitled The Black Donnellys' Massacre and Jenny Donnelly. (The latter of which was covered by Chantal Vitalis)

The Donnellys are mentioned in Steve Earle's song Justice in Ontario

In 2007, a new series debut on NBC entitled "The Black Donnellys" deals with four Irish brothers and their entrance into organized crime in New York City. This show has nothing to do with the Black Donnellys of Canada. However, Creator Paul Haggis who was born and raised in Southwestern Ontario, used the name as inspiration for the show.

[edit] References

  • In Search of The Donnellys by Hamilton, Ontario, lawyer Ray Fazakas, self-published, 2001.
  • The Donnelly Album, by Ray Fazakas, Macmillan of Canada, 1977.
  • The Donnellys Must Die, by Orlo Miller by Macmillan paperbacks, 1962.
  • The Donnellys by Peter Colley, stage play, Playwrights Guild of Canada, 1976.
  • The Donnelly Trilogy, by James Reaney, 1974-1975.
  • The Black Donnellys: The True Story of Canada's Most Barbaric Feud by Thomas Kelley, 1954.

[edit] External links

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