Times Advocate, 1991-03-20, Page 4Pape 4 Times -Advocate, March 20, 1991
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Have the wounds healed?
Coming to terms with
the Donnelly legacy
By Adrian Harte
LUCAN - Tracing the footsteps of a group of mur-
derous vigilantes along the dusty roads of Biddulph
Township may not sound like the most civilized way
to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.
And yet that i p isely how a group of 48 people
from the Toronto. 8f spent Sunday afternoon.
Weekenders Inc. Ajax arranged the tour as the
first of several they hope will bring to life the legend
of the massacre of the Donnelly family - a legend of
Canada -wide reknown. A few people from the Lucan
area joined in with the tour, partly out of their own cu-
riosity, and partly to find out what was being said
about their neighbourhood.
The more interesting question is whether or not the
people of Biddulph and Lucan will be pleased to find
their area is best known for such a black .moment in
Ontario history. A more cynical mind might conclude
if there is a Donnelly curse, this is it.
And yet Lucan may have to get used to all the noto-
riety because according to the bus tour organizers, this
was just the fust of "many, many" such visits to the
Donnelly landmarks.
The tour began with a St. Patrick's Day luncheon at
Hooligans Restaurant, where Earl Heywood, accompa-
nied by his wife Martha, performed some of the songs
he wrote to illuminate the Donnelly tea: •' y.
Heywood, who was raised on five mil up the road
from the Donnelly farm and whose : grandfather
often rode the Donnelly stag: , : • , • I • the Donnel-
ly murders an obvious topic for his songwriting. The
Donnelly legend was part of his childhood.
"I'd go to these threshing bees and that's all they'd
talk about," said Heywood, adding that tales such as
horses not passing by the Donnelly farm on dark
flights ran rampant.
Heywood included his first song about the murders
sThe Donnelly Tragedy" in his second songbook, but
aid his father was upset about him setting the story to
music, especially since there were many people in the
area at the time who harboured uneasy feelings about
their ancestors' deeds.
Nothing ever came of those misgivings, though, not-
ed Heywood, not even when be performed in Lucan at
a trade show. The organizers had onginally asked him
not' to sing his Donnelly songs, but public demand
forced them to change their minds.
Even Heywood's drummer had warned "Don't sing
those songs, you'll get shot", but the crowd lapped
them up.
Today, 111 years after those fateful events on the Ro-
man line, there are few left wbo take the actions of
those 30 or so vigilantes quite so personally.
"The young people look at it differently," observed
Martha Heywood.
Jean Hodgins, local historian, agreed, saying a few
decades ago the Donnelly murders could be linked di-
rectly to parents or grandparents, but today those with
such direct links are long gone.
One of the visitors with the tour group was heard to
comment "A hundred years have passed. I don't see
what's the bigdeal".-
The bus tour first took the group out to the Cedar
Swamp schoolhouse, from where the vigilantes are
claimed to have met before beginning their murderous
doings. A percussion -cap rifle was shown to the crowd
of intrigued tourists who were told it has belonged W
the Ryder family for generations and may have been
used on that fateful night.
With the tout bus parked outside the Donnelly home-
stead, a 20 -minute videotape of the events of that night
was shown. on the bus. Max Haines, a crime reporter
with the Toronto Sun who accompanied the, tour, said
the video went into minute detail of exactly where eve-
ryone was sleeping when the vigilantes arrived - where
they were when they died, and what Johnny O'Connor
saw while hiding under the bed.
With the ocigusal Donnelly barn standing just metres
away, the effect was dramatic.
"It brings to life a piece of Canadian history," said
Haines, adding that the Donnelly massacre represents s
unique event in rural pioneer life, and says a lot about
the peculiar law and order in those days.
"It really did happen," said Haines while wandering
through the St. Patrick's Church Cemetery. "It hap-
pened right here? .
Multiple killings are rare in Canada, noted Haines,
and are more associated with the wild west. And the
fact all perpetrators were acquitted of the killings, even
though hundreds of people must have known what hap-
pened that night, only makesit more fascinating.
The tour was completed with a trip to the site of Wil-
liam Donnelly's home at Whalen Corners, a visit to St.
Patrick's Church where the graves of the Donnelly's
and several perpetrators lie, and was capped with a
view of Bill Ryder's Donnelly -related artwork on dis-.
play at the Ludan Inn.
Tales • of the past - Standing outside the Cedar Swamp School-
- house, Bill Ryder tells how he imagi s a group of men who met
there to plot revenge on the Donnel s ended up setting out on a
murderous rampage.
DonneIIypi
closer to`{
LUCAN - A lot has happened
to change the interpretation of
the events of February 4, 1880
since Tom Kelly's first book The
Black Donnelly: was published
in the 1950s. Even though it has
outsold all the books since writ-
ten about the Donnelly massa-
cre, it is usually regarded as a
highly -sensationalized work
suggesting the communities of
Biddulph and Lucan rose up to
wdeak revenge on an evil family
who had terrorized them for dec-
ades.
More modem in ons
note the religious and political
differences between the Donnel-
ly family and the community
and portray them as a much ma-
ll , albeit violent, family.
by Orlo Miller and Ray
Fazakas have added much to the
legend, as have plays by James
Reaney and songs by Earl Hey-
wood.
Heywood says in 1970 he
planned to buy the old school-
house that stood on the coulee of
the Donnelly farm, but the deal
fell through.
Today, a similar dream may
be realized.
Bill Ryder, himself a descen-
dant of people associated with
the massacre, says his goal of
setting up a Donnelly museum at
Grosvenor Lodge on Western
Road in London is coming clos-
er to reality. Investors are inter-
ested in the idea and the govern-
ment may offer support.
"You can see the popularity
exists," said Ryder, offering
cNNELLy
s4um
ality
Sunday's bus trip as an example.
"They're just fascinated with it
it's our folldore."
If and when the museum is
created, it can expect to become
the residence of the stove from
the Donnelly schoolhouse, a
host of documents from the era,
including a photograph of the
fury that acquitted James Car-
roll, Johanna Donnelly's own
pipe, and a muzzle -loading rifle
said to have been at the murder
scene.
"There's another collection
available," said Ryder of an of-
fer he received only last week.
He said that while some had
doubted an entire museum could
be filled with exclusively Don-
nelly -related material, Ryder
says - an extension to the lodge
could possibly be justified to
di lay it all.
Ryder is positive the museum
would have no shortage of visi-
tors - the Donnelly legend is
known far and wide.
"They (visitors) already have a
basic background to the story -
we'te just providing some visual
maternal, said Ryder.
As for the location of the mu-
seum in London, Ryder says it is
more than just the access to a
larger population base. Gros-
venor Lodge was standing at the
time of the trials at the Middles-
ex County Court House, and the
Justice of the Peace resided
there at the time.
"We can establish a connec-
tion," said Ryder.
Feature attraction - The Donnelly family grave, now without the Ire:
scription "murdered" on the stone, is still an essential stop for
those tracing the legacy.
•
Musket unveiled - Shown to the public for the first time on Sunday
was this percussion -cap rifle owned by the Ryder family and claimed
to have been carried to the Donnelly massacre. As David Andrews
of Oshawa said "It's all Canadian history."
Tracing the legend
• On the night of February 4,1880, a group of men met at the Cedar
Swamp Schoolhouse in Biddulph Township to discuss avenging
themselves on the Donnelly family on the Roman Line.
•Later that night, Jim (63), Johannah (56), Thomas (25) and Budget
Donnelly (21) were beaten to death at their homestead. Their bodies
were burned along with the homestead.
•The vigilantes continued on to the home of William Donnelly at
Whalen Corners, but shot John Donnelly (32)to death by mistake.
*Although a jury in London heard the case of constable James Car-
roll, accused of leading the massacre, no one was ever convicted of
the crimes.
MN stands - Although the Donnelly homestead was burned clown Past haunts - St. Patrick's Catholic Church, the home parish church Folklore - Earl and Martha Heywood sing their sons of the Donnelly
that fateful night in 1880, their barn still stands as a reminder. of the Donnellys and rrany of the suspected murderers, was also a legend for an appreciative audience at Hooligans Restaurant.
stop for the bus tour_