Times Advocate, 1995-07-12, Page 13( Trj �j1 a�,;�al�;ti•
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Donnelly memories stay alive
Rob Salts of
Lucan who
lives at the
Donnelly
homestead
offers tours
and details
of the chill-
ing tale.
Ingrid Nielsen T.A. staff
LUCAN - Whether you believe
they were used as scapegoats for the
evil deeds of others, or a family
possessed by hatred and horror, the
• story of the Donnellys is as
controversial today as it was the day
after their massacre in Lucan on
February 4, 1880.
Like much of Canadian history,
the story of the Donnellys laid
relatively dormant in the town of
Lucan for many years. The days of
lawlessness and mayhem were best
forgotten by the small town, which
was not proud of its infamous
reputation in the late 1800's.
That has changed, says Rob Salts
who now lives in the Donnelly
Homestead just North of Lucan
He has opened his home to the
public, and the case has been
re -opened to the scrutiny of all
those who wish to investigate the
curious tale.
"I have been doing tours now for
seven years, and more and more
people are taking an interest," said
Salts. "For a time, you just didn't
talk about the Donnellys. But as
Lucan is becoming more and more
of a bedroom community to
London, they found they just
couldn't bury their heads in the
sand anymore, as bloody as that
sand may be. It is part of our
history."
Salts is also a transclairvoyant,
which means he can communicate
with the spirits and other entities.
DONNELLY
HOMESTEAD
The Donnelly Homestead just north of Lucan
"When we moved up here in
1988, being a transclairvoyant, I
knew there was a lot going on
here. I see them with my eyes
closed. You can be sitting, and all
of a sudden you feel someone walk
into the room, but there is no one
there," said Salts.
Transclairvoyant is a word which
combines the meaning of
clairvoyant; the alleged power of
perceiving things beyond the
natural senses or keen initiative
understanding, with trans, meaning
across beyond or on the other side.
"You're never alone here."
The tale began when James
Donnelly first brought his family to
Lucan in 1842. They were strong
Irish Catholic, and along with their
ancestry, they brought the feud
that came with it. This was a time
of great strife between the Irish
Catholics and Protestants in
Ireland, factoring in the British as
well. That is an interesting tale on
its own, but also an important
factor in the Donnelly tale.
"A lot of people used the
Donnellys as scapegoats," said
Salts. "Even though they weren't
angels, they took a lot of abuse."
The feud centred in the township
of Biddulph and the town of
Lucan. The Donnellys were guilty
of murder, assault and havoc, but
so were many of the other citizens
of the area. No one's hands were
clean in those days. Barns were
burnt, a man was murdered just
walking along the road, and shots
take Warning,
,� ally Oh Dung folks
te'
Never live a life °f ha
Of wickednesslest
or violence,
e Donnelly's fate
Your share th bodies lie today,
murdered
Their ofhe' awful feud,
Lucan to
A mile from
But the memories of
Will live down!"
- Old Song
Time never
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it
rang out nightly at the town
saloon.
In 1879, Father John Connolly
came to Lucan, and set up the
. Property Protection Association,
which became the Peace Society.
The inner core then became the
Vigilance Committee, a group of
hardened men set on destroying the
Donnellys. The inner core is said
to have been unknown to Connolly.
The group met at the Cedar
Swamp Schoolhouse, which still
exists at the corner of Granton
Road and Highway 23.
"They had been harassing the
Donnelly family," said Salts. "In
January previous, a man named
Patrick Ryder had a barn burned
down. He charged the Donnelly
boys (by this time there were eight
children). That backfired because
all the Donnelly boys could be
accounted for. They ended up
charging Johanna and James
Donnelly, who were now 59 and
64 years old in a time when the
average person died by 45. They
were dragging them back and forth
to court."
"The Vigilance Committee
decided to take the two out the
night before the last court case to
beat them up, to extract confessions
from them. If they didn't have
evidence on them, all the charges
would have been dropped and the
other men would have been
brought up for false arrest."
On the night of February 4, 1880,
very early in the morning, 30 to
35 men came up from the old
schoolhouse and surrounded the
Donnelly home. They were led by
the county legal constable, 28 year
old James Carroll.
When the sun came up next
morning, five members of the
Donnelly family had been brutally
murdered and the home was burned
to the ground.
For details of that grizzly night,
and the injustice that followed, you
will have to travel to the Donnelly
home and listen to Salts as he
describes exactly where and how
the massacre took place.
Salts and his family live in a
house that was rolled over by Will
Donnelly years after the massacre,
and was attached to the original
shanty that James and Johanna had
first lived in. This is directly
beside the spot where the newer
house had stood before it was
burned down that bloody February
night. The original foundation
stones of the house remain.
Salts also takes tours to see the
old schoolhouse on the property
where Johanna taught to make
extra money in the 1870's. Only the
foundation remains, but a presence
is strongly felt while walking
around the stone structure.
Another point of interest is the
old barn. It predates the massacre
and was built in 1877. Most of the
original barnboard remains, as well
as the memories it holds.
There are also many pictures and
artifacts that Salts has collected
and preserved.
The 90 minute tour includes all
of these interesting sites, as well as
details of the chilling tale. All tours
under seven people cost $30.00,
and for over seven people, it costs
$5.00 per person. It isn't
recommended for very small
children.
For more information or to
schedule a tour, call the Salts at
227-1244.
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