Irish-Canadian family
The "Black" Donnellys were an Irish Catholic immigrant family who settled in Biddulph township, Upper Canada (later the province of Ontario), about 25 km northwest of London, in the 1840s. The family settled on a concession road which became known as the Roman Line due to its high concentration of Irish Catholic immigrants in the predominantly Protestant area. Many Irish Canadians arrived in the 19th century, many fleeing the Great Famine of Ireland (1845-52). The Donnellys' ongoing feuds with local residents culminated in an attack on the family's homestead by a vigilante mob on 4 February 1880, leaving five of the family dead and their farm burned to the ground. No one was convicted of the murders, despite two trials and a reliable eyewitness.
Information about the family and the events surrounding their deaths was suppressed locally for much of the 20th century, due to many residents possibly having ancestors who were involved. In 1995 the Lucan and Area Heritage Society formed to document and preserve local history, and the organization opened the Lucan Area Heritage &amp; Donnelly Museum in 2009.
History.
James (March 7, 1816–February 4, 1880) and Johannah (née Magee) Donnelly (September 22, 1823–February 4, 1880) immigrated to Canada from Moneygall, County Tipperary, Ireland, with their first child, James Jr. (1842–1877), in 1842. After arriving in Canada, they settled as squatters in Biddulph Township in southwestern Ontario. They had seven more children: William Donnelly (1845–1897); John Donnelly (September 16, 1847–February 4, 1880); Patrick Donnelly (1849–1914); Michael Donnelly (1850-1879), killed in a pub fight; Robert Donnelly (1853–1911); Thomas Donnelly (August 30, 1854–February 4, 1880); and Jennie "Jane" Donnelly (1857–1917). James's niece, Bridget Donnelly (May 1, 1858–February 4, 1880) also lived with them.
Land title dispute.
The property the Donnellys settled on originally belonged to the Canada Company which sold it to James Grace. Patrick Farrell had leased part of the lot occupied by the Donnellys. In 1856, owner John Grace brought an action for ejectment in the Court of Common Pleas of Huron County. Squatting was a common North American frontier practice often supported by the courts in the establishment of common law property rights. The judge, recognizing the improvements Donnelly had made to the land during his ten-year occupancy, split the lot, awarding Donnelly the north and Farrell the south.
Despite the settlement, hard feelings remained. At a barn raising bee on Saturday, June 27, 1857, James Donnelly and Farrell fought. There are various accounts of what transpired, but in the end Farrell suffered a blow to the head from a handspike thrown by Donnelly, and died two days later. James Donnelly then went into hiding. Almost two years later, James turned himself in to Jim Hodgins, a sympathetic Justice of the Peace. James was sentenced to be hanged on September 17, 1859. A petition for clemency started by his wife Johannah caused his sentence to be reduced to seven years in Kingston Penitentiary.
Donnelly Stagecoach Line.
The Donnelly Stagecoach Line is believed to have been started May 24, 1873, by William Donnelly, and was a huge success. The line of stages, which ran between London, Lucan, and Exeter, was operated by William and his brothers Michael, John, and Thomas, even rivaling the official mail stage that had been in business since 1838.
The Hawkshaw stage line soon felt the pressure of competition from the Donnellys. In October 1873, Hawkshaw sold his stage to Patrick Flanagan, a husky Irishman, who was determined to drive the Donnellys out of business.
This set the stage for the feud between the Donnelly Stagecoach and the Flanagan &amp; Crawly Stage — the Stagecoach Feud, as it came to be known. Stages were either smashed or burned, horses were savagely beaten or killed, and stables burned to the ground.
The violence that erupted as a result of the Stagecoach Feud was mostly blamed on the Donnellys and gave the family a bad reputation. From that time on, almost every crime committed was blamed on the family, but although they were charged with numerous crimes, "few convictions were secured against them".
Familiarity with the law.
In the buildup towards the murder of the family, the Donnellys became well acquainted with local law enforcement. There are various accounts of assault, arson, trespassing, verbal assault, attempted murder, murder of Patrick Farrell, theft, robbery, assaulting a police officer, as well as various altercations with many residents of the Biddulph Township.
The Donnellys were not found guilty of everything of which they were accused but through their actions they made many enemies within the township. This seems to indicate that the Donnellys were a constant source of strife and destruction in their community, but these types of crimes were common for the county in which they lived. It was not just the men of the family who would get into altercations with the law as Johannah was noted to swear at officers quite often, specifically Constable Carroll.
Biddulph Peace Society vigilantes.
In June 1879, Father John Connolly created a Peace Society/Association in Biddulph. He asked everyone who attended St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church to pledge their support. Both members and supporters of the society agreed to have their homes searched for stolen property, but the Donnellys refused to sign the pledge. The Vigilance Committee formed out of the Peace Society. 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 used vigilantism, however, as means to enforce the traditional code of silence and the other unwritten social rules of Irish culture, which the Donnelly family were never shy about violating. For example, at a time when the religious persecution of the Catholic Church in Ireland was still in living memory, Fr. John Connolly was reported to be preaching anti-Protestantism from the pulpit when James Donnelly stood up, denounced the priest for his sermon, and said his family would from that time on attend the Catholic parish in London, Ontario. This was because the Donnelly family had many Protestant friends who later attended their funeral. 
When the Tithe War was still a recent memory among many local residents and the Land War was taking place against Protestant Anglo-Irish landlords in Ireland, James Donnelly donated money towards the establishment of a local Anglican Church in Canada parish. This further outraged the Biddulph Peace Society and many other local residents in the process, but less so than the Donnelly family's past and present use of both violence and intimidation.
In August 1879, a militant splinter group of the Peace Society began covert meetings at the Cedar Swamp Schoolhouse in Biddulph. Constable James Carroll was part of the splinter group, as were many other local Irish-Canadians with long lists of grievances against the Donnelly family. This group became known as the Vigilance Committee / Society, which was later blamed for the massacre of the Donnelly family.
Massacre.
Members of the Vigilance Committee allegedly gathered at the Cedar Swamp Schoolhouse late in the evening of February 3, 1880, before proceeding to the Donnelly homestead.
William Donnelly survived and was listed as the informant on the death certificates for all five, dated April 1 and 2, 1880, with the cause of death listed as "supposed to be murdered."
Cause for attack.
There were many feuds associated with the reason behind the death of the Donnellys, however, what is considered to be the "final straw" was the belief that the Donnellys committed arson against Patrick Ryder's barn.
After the fire, some members of the community had had "enough" of the Donnellys and decided to take the law into their own hands once they heard that there was no supporting evidence linking the Donnellys to the burning of the barn. This news reached the congregation of St. Patrick's Church and the priest addressed that an "evil had fallen among the community" and offered a reward of C$500 for the "detection of the wicked persons" and he vowed that the "guilty party" would be punished for the crime of arson.
There were many considerations as to what was the right form of punishments; some residents believed arranging for the Donnellys to face fines and jail time would be acceptable. However, others believed that summary execution would be a better form of punishment.
Members list.
"Big" Jack Kennedy, William Feeheley, Pat Dewan, Heenans (Dennis, Anthony and Michael), John Lanphier, James Harrigan, Ryders (Mr. Ryder, Jim, Patrick Jr., "Sideroad" Jim, Thomas and Daniel), McLaughlins (Martin and John), Ted Toohey, John Cain, James Maher, Quigleys (John and Patrick), Patrick Breen, James McGrath, John Purtell, Michael Blake, Ryans (John, Ned and Johnny), William Thompson, John Dorsey, John Bruin, Michael Madigan, James Kenny, and James Carroll.
Weapons list.
Firearms, pitchfork (Tom Ryder), axe (Purtell), shovel (Pat Quigley and Tim Toohey), clubs and shortened wooden stake made of cordwood.
Original plan.
The original plan that was generated by the Peace Society was to visit the Donnellys' family home on the night of February 3.
The original plan was to handcuff the Donnelly men, escort them from the homestead, where they would be hanged from a tree until they confessed their many violent crimes against their neighbors.
However, one of the problems with their plan was that no one really knew how this could be properly executed. Therefore, the plan was to be changed when they arrived on the Donnelly property.
In the beginning, their original intent was to only "hurt" the Donnellys and to "bring them as near the dissolution point as possible." The Peace Society accordingly set up surveillance of the Donnelly property in preparation, to determine who was in the home at what times, and how they would enter the property in the dark. Jim Feeheley is believed to have been one of the spies.
Jim Feeheley would visit the Donnelly house earlier in the night as a distraction and to get an understanding on the type of situation they would be encountering that night. There were some more problems associated with these plans such as the fact that the society had not planned on Donnelly leaving the Donnelly home and taking his horse to Big Jim Keefe. The society thought Keefe was spying for them; and finally, they also did not expect hired farmhand Johnny O’Connor to be inside the house during the night chosen for the attack.
Day of the massacre.
It can be said that the day of February 3, began like any other day in the Donnelly household. In the morning, James Donnelly sat down at the kitchen table with his son, Tom, and asked him to write a letter to Alderman Edmund Meredith, the London lawyer who was going to be handling the Donnelly's case against Patrick Ryder. He wrote;
 ;templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" / ;Mr. Meredeth,
SIR- On the fifteenth of last month Pat Ryder's barn were burned. All the vigilance committee at one pointed to my family as the once that did it. Ryder found out that all my boys were at a wedding that night. He at once arrested me on suspicion, an also sent a constable after my wife to St. Thomas. The trial has been postponed four different times, although we are ready for our trial at any time. They examined a lot of witnesses but can't find anything against us. Ryder swore that we lived neighbours to each other for thirty years and never had any differences, and had no reason for arresting us only we are blamed for everything... The presiding Magistrates are old Grant and newly made one, Casey. They are using us work that mad dogs. Mr. McDermid is attending on our behalf... they has the first trial in Lucan, and tomorrow again, and I am informed they are going to send us for trial without a tittle of evidence. If so I will telegraph you when we start for London to meet us at the City Hotel, and get us bailed to take our trail before the judge, and I want you to handle the case in our behalf. There is not the slightest case for our arrest, it seems hard to see a man and women over sixty years of age dragged around as laughing stock.
Yours truly,
James Donnelly, SEN 2
Once the letter was delivered, the day carried on as it normally would; at roughly 4 o'clock Johnny, James and Jim returned to their house on Roman Line. This timeframe was given by William Casey because he stated that he