The Donnelly Massacre has become imprinted on the folk culture and history of Ontario. Many books have been written and published about it, there are several documentaries available, ballad-type songs have been written, there is a local Donnelly museum in Lucan where you can buy your own Donnelly coffee mug, golf balls or t-shirt (how tacky!) or take a Vigilante Bus Tour. I once attended a Donnelly Massacre play put on by a rural Ontario theatre group. Of course there are many Donnelly ghost stories also embedded into local myth, particularly about how horses don't like to go down the road past where the Donnelly farm used to be. The story goes that horses either refuse to move or else they go crazy when they pass the old Donnelly homestead.
Interior of the Donnelly Museum, Lucan, Ontario. |
Here's a youtube video of Hector McIssac singing "The Black Donnellys".
How is our ancestor involved? Well, John Galloway Scott was deputy attorney general at the time of the trials. Here's a letter from the local Sheriff to J.G. Scott asking advice on the prison conditions of the accused men. The original letter is in the University of Western Ontario Archives, The J.J. Talman regional collection, Donnelly Family Papers, B4878, File 2.
"Re Donnelly Murder Case
London, Ontario
May 7, 1880
J G Scott Esq.
Deputy Attorney General
Toronto
Sir,
...after the prisoners were placed in my custody I was cautioned by the County Attorney to keep them apart so far as space would permit. This the Gaoler has done I believe to the best of his ability. I have cautioned the Gaoler to be specially careful not to allow any one to see the prisoners without my direction and then only in the presence of a legal official.
The prisoners complain that their health is being jeopardized by the close confinement and and the Gaol Surgeon is of the same opinion. They ask as a privilege to be allowed to break stones in the Gaol yard with other prisoners.
...The prisoners are strong vigorous men accustomed to hard work and it is feared the close confinement will endanger their lives.
I have the honour to be
Sir
Your Most Obedient Servant
Wm Glass
Sheriff"
I think this is a fascinating historical tidbit. I had never connected the dots to think that Scott was actually Deputy Attorney General during this notorious crime, or that he had anything to do with it in his official capacity. (Unfortunately, I don't have his reply.) It's also interesting to see him being consulted about issues of prison security and prisoner well-being. When I read biographical material about Scott, it's all about the legislation he helped draft and implement, particularly his work on Land Titles. This kind of inquiry might have formed part of the day-to-day business of his work, as opposed to the larger projects he took on that he is now remembered for.
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