Ep. 40 - The Black Donnellys

The Black Donnellys were an Irish family looking for a new start across the Atlantic Ocean in the early 1840s. James and Johannah Donnelly had lived in poverty and strife and they hoped that Canada would bring a new start for their little family. So they packed up what little they had, along with their son James, Jr., and migrated to Forest City, Canada from Tipperary, Ireland.  They would find a new life in this new world, but they would not gain it in the right way. They would take what was not theirs and this would lead to strife for their family. It would eventually lead to a lot of death as well. And now spirits roam the former Donnelly homestead.

James found work in Canada and Johannah gave birth to their second son William, who was nicknamed “Clubfoot Will” because he was born with a clubfoot. They were happy for a while, but they really longed to have their own land and their own farm. Around 1845, the Donnellys moved to Biddulph, Ontario, which was in the Canadian wilderness. The only problem with this dream the Donnellys had was that they did not have any money. The Canada Land Company owned the land here and they would lease it out to farmers with the option to eventually buy the land. The Donnellys didn’t have any money to even lease a square foot of land. Many destitute families at that time would squat on land. This means they illegally lived on a plot of land and they claimed it as their own because they lived there.

James chose an area where many Roman Catholics had settled that was called the Roman Line for that reason. The landlord was named John Grace and he was absent. The lot was number 18 and it measured 100 acres. James set out to build a little log shanty for the family. James cleared the land and Johannah continued to pump out the kids. Along came sons John, Patrick, Michael, Robert and Thomas. Although James had been working the land, keep in mind that he was squatting. John Grace owned the land and he decided to sell fifty acres of it to a man named Michael Maher. The Donnellys had worked hard on the land and they were not about to allow the southern part of what they considered to be their property to be sold to someone else.

The Donnellys defiance was backed up with weapons and nobody dared to cross them. Regardless of how James or his family felt, the southern part of the property was now owned by Michael Maher and he wanted to lease it out and he did just that to a man named Patrick Ferrell. James refused to allow Ferrell on the land and so the issue went to court and things did not go in the Donnellys’ favor. They were told that they could stay on the northern fifty acres, but they had to give up the Southern fifty.
Ontario at this time had a custom of holding various community functions that they dubbed “bees.” Like quilting bees and barn raising bees. These were opportunities for the community to come together and help each other with bigger tasks. On June 25th, 1857, Biddulph had a logging bee and allthe men turned out to help. This included both James Donnelly and Patrick Ferrell. After a hard day of work, the men were all sitting around drinking beer. James and Patrick eyeballed each other several times. The men detested each other and it was just a matter of time before things would escalate. By the next morning, Patrick Ferrell lay dead with a hole in his head, placed there by James Donnelly using a handspike.

This was the start of a horrible season in the area. The authorities went to the Donnelly property to arrest James, but he had disappeared. For months the authorities would come and attempt to arrest James, but every time they came, James was nowhere to be found and his family was not talking. It turned out that James had not fled the country. He was actually still on his squatted homestead, hiding out in the fields. James couldn’t leave his family to do all the work in the fields, so he would disguise himself in some of his wife’s clothing, so that he could work alongside her. If anyone suspected that James was in the disguise, nobody said. And when winter reared its ugly, cold head, James would sleep in stables or he did have a couple of friends who allowed him to stay in their home. One brutal winter was enough for James and he decided to turn himself in and face his punishment. He got the best defense attorney and plead his case, but he was found guilty and sentenced to hang on September 17, 1858. His wife Johannah was devastated and began a petition to change the sentence. The sentence was changed after the petition was turned in to the authorities and his sentence was reduced to seven years. He walked out of the Goderich Gaol in 1865.

Trouble continued for the Donnellys though. The family is blamed over and over for crimes that they are never convicted of because of no proof. The boys often get in fights with other townspeople. in 1879, the Constable and a group dubbing themselves The Vigilance Society begin a hate campaign against the Donnellys. They finally are blamed for burning down the Ryder Farm and the entire family was to face trial. The Vigilance Society decided that they had had enough of the Black Donnellys. They held a secret meeting at the Cedar Swamp Schoolhouse. They decided to take drastic action and sent a man named James Feeheley to spy on the Donnellys to figure out where they all were staying. This meeting took place on February 3, 1880. While this is happening, James and Johannah send their son John to his brother William’s house to borrow a sleigh for the family to ride to the trial in the morning. John decides it would be best for him to stay overnight at William’s house. His friend Martin Hogan, Jr. joined him on the trip.

Back at the Donnelly homestead were Johannah and James, along with their son Thomas. James had a niece that had traveled from Ireland to stay with them at the house and there was another man named Johnny O’Connor there. James and Johnny headed to bed early and slept in the front room of the house, while Bridget, Johannah and Thomas visited. They were joined eventually by Feeheley who had come to spy. Most people suppose that Feeheley was getting a feel for who was in the house and where they would be sleeping. After he leaves, Thomas went to the bedroom behind the kitchen and Johannah and Bridget shared another room at the front of the house. Everything was peaceful until 1am.

The Vigilance Society arrived and one member let himself through the back door. He found Thomas right away and handcuffed him. He moved to the front of the house where Johannah and Bridget had already awakened from the commotion. The man runs to the other room and wakes up James. At this point, the entire vigilantly group enters the house and they begin to beat James and Johannah. Johnny quickly hides beneath a bed, but Bridget motions for him to follow her upstairs. Johnny takes too long and Bridget locks him out of the room she is in, so he returns to under the bed. Thomas runs outside, but the mob drags him back inside the house as they beat him. A couple men try to gain entry to the room where Bridget has barricaded herself and they either kill her or they give up and decide to just burn down the house, which they do using coal oil.

Johnny manages to get out of the house and runs to a neighbor’s house named Patrick Whalen. He tells the man that the Donnellys have been beaten and he thinks murdered and that their house is on fire. Patrick joins Johnny back at the house and they witness Bridget’s body falling through the upper floor. The murderous Vigilance Society was not done, however. They arrived at William Donnelly’s house around 2am and they surround the house. The group shouts, “Fire!” to get the inhabitants to awaken and John opens the door to see what is happening. He is immediately shot and the group disperses thinking that they have killed William. The next morning, neighbors and town people come and scavenge souvenirs while the police put all of what remains of the Donnellys into one casket.

This was not the end of the Donnellys and their spirits remain on the land to this day, it is claimed. The Roman Line where they decided to homestead is reputedly cursed and people are warned to stay away on February 3rd and 4th, the dates that the Donnellys were attacked and killed. The curse claims that anyone who travels that area will die shortly thereafter. This curse included animals and one story says that three horses lost their lives after traveling the Roman Line on those cursed dates. It’s unusual that these horses did that because many times, horses will not cross near the former Donnelly property. The Norton family that lived on the property in 1974 said that they witnessed seeing headless ghost horses running on the property and that living horses would often go berserk as if possessed. They finally removed a friend’s mare from their property after several times of experiencing her running around in a state of terror with her eyes wide and her nostrils flared. They said it looked like she was running away from something that was chasing her, but they never saw anyone or anything.

The Nortons also claimed there was haunting activity in their house. Cupboards would open and close on their own. Objects around the house would mysteriously disappear. One of these items was a green hunting shirt. The family searched the house, but they could find it nowhere. It reappeared a year later, hanging in the closet, pressed and starched.

Robert and Linda Salts would become the new owners in 1988 and they were barely moved into the old homestead before they figured out that they were not alone. The entire time they unpacked their belongings, they felt as if they were being watched. People touring the barn have felt the eerie feeling. People are touched as well by something they cannot see. The interaction is usually a tap on the shoulder. But one time, a couple staying overnight in the barn felt a pressure on their chests and they could hear someone walking through the hay even though they were the only people in the barn. A couple of students visiting the barn claimed they felt pressure on their chests too.

The barn is clearly giving people weird feelings, but the house does that as well because part of the house was built by the Donnelly family members that survived the attack. The original house burned down, of course, but William, Patrick and Robert Donnelly rebuilt the house and this original structure still makes up the center of the Salts home. The paranormal activity seems to focus on this area. Phanton footsteps are heard throughout this part of the house on a regular basis. The Salts usually are not unnerved by these footsteps, but Mr. Salts was when the footsteps stopped near the bedroom at night and he heard his name called out three times. Keep in mind that he shares a name with one of the Donnelly boys, Robert.

Another disturbing experience happened to Robert when he was taking a shower one day. He saw a shadow on the shower curtain. The shadow left after a couple of minutes and he thought perhaps his wife or son had come into the bathroom. But when he asked them, they both denied entering the bathroom. Robert asked his son to stand outside of the curtain to see if the experience could be recreated and his son's shadow could not replicate the shadow. It never happened again and they have no idea who the shadow belongs to. The Salts' son saw the full bodied apparitions of James and Johannah Donnelly wearing black and two of their children wearing white clothes.

The Donnellys have been encountered by many people, both in life and death. Many of those did not go well and that might explain why their spirits seem to be at unrest. Do the Black Donnellys haunt their former homestead? That is for you to decide!