Heaven and Hell on Earth: The Massacre of the Black Donnellys - Assignment Example

Heaven and Hell on Earth: The massacre of the ‘Black Donnelly’s’ Students Name Institution Supervisors Name Date Introduction The massacre of the Donnelly family has remained to be one of the greatest mysteries ever discovered in the history of Canada. The incident happened in the township of Biddulp and was performed by an armed mob according to the Listowen newspaper in the month of February 1880. The Donnelly’s family were themselves notorious Irish family who migrated from their country in the 1840s with the hope to find a better life and much success in their new country Canada[Ray10]. Before coming to Canada however, James and Johanna had lived in London as squatter before they were eventually flushed out for having conflicting relationship with their neighbours and the community around them. These crimes that ran in the family led to most of them spending time in Jail. For example their father James Snr. Had already been serving a Jail sentence in the Kingston Penitentiary for the crime, his children who were all boys grew in to manhood and also earned a criminal reputation of their own[Nat09]. The family were accused of committing so many crimes that included assault and arson. Sooner the Donnelly’s name become a mystery The family was cursed by being aggressive and abuse upon anyone that would try to cross their line, whether it was just because of a pretty girl or over the stagecoach line that they owned. Due to this reason, some of the residents in the Buddulph Township would find someone to blame for any crime that was committed in the city[Tho05]. Death of the Donnelly’s Due to the repeated wrongful accusation the father to the Donnelly would often complain to the local magistrate of being blamed for crimes they did not commit, However, after this happened, he was found dead the next day. Following the event, in the year 1880, February 14th, the farm that belonged to the Donnelly family was also burned down to the ground. With the arson act was their Son To and the Niece Bridget, who became victims of a cruel vicious mob act. Also in a separate murder was the death of another son of James Donnelly. These deaths have continued to remain a mystery as no one has ever been found guilty of the crime. And despite their being two trials for their death, the Jury never delivered a guilty verdict[Sto03]. The Donnelly’s Massacre According to available information with regard to the murder of the Donnelly’s, members of a vigilante committee on the night of the murder gathered at the Cedar swamp school house in the evening of February 3rd 1880 for a discussion of the dealing with the Donnelly before finally heading to their homestead. During this massacre however, one of the Donnelly son survived, he was later listed as the informant on the death certificates for the other five sons in the Month of April 1880. The cause of the death here was listed as being, ‘supposed to be murdered[Can10]. The Cause of the Donnelly Attack According to the events that followed before the murder of the Donnelly’s, the feuds in the Township were most of the time associated with the Donnelly’s. However they major issue that finally led to the attack was when the Donnelly’s were accused as being responsible for the burning down of Patrick Ryder’s barn. This led to the community developing a lot of fury with the Donnelly’s, with this regard community decide to take law in to their own hands. However, this was done after they had supporting evident that directly supported the accusation against the Donnelly’s for burning the barn[Lee03]. During this time, the congregation also discussed on the right form of punishment to be given to the accused person, others came up with fines, others Jail terms and sadly others preferred permanent punishment to the accused, which would be death[Orl08]. The Plan The original plan to commit the massacre of the Donnelly’s was generated by a vigilante group known as the peace society; they planned to visit the family on the Night of February 3rd 1880. Part of what the vigilante group would plan to do was to handcuff the Donnelly’s and then taken them away from their homes. After this they would then be hung from a tree until they confessed for committing the act and other crimes against the community. But there was one problem with this plan, there was no one in the vigilante group who had an idea of how to execute the interrogation plan well, for this reason, the plan was later changed as they arrived to the residence of the Donnelly’s. as they approached the compound, their original intent was to only make sure that the Donnelly’s went through some sort of pain so as to bring them to confess to the crimes as much as possible[Don10]. The Trial of the Donnelly’s Massacre There were two trials that were carried out in solving the mystery, the first one actually began on the Month of February 1880.This trial was conducted by a group of Judges at the McLean’s Hotem in Lucan, Ontario, Canada. The trial also provided for three preliminary hearings that led up to the first trial on the month of October 1880. The second hearing was also held in February 2nd 1880, and the third one followed on the month of March 2nd 1880. As the preliminary hearings went on, there were change of venues which were requested by they were all rejected[Can10]. It was felt by the crown that the Middlesex County was very biased due to his hatred of the Donnelly’s thismeant that a fair trial would not be reached. The second trial also began in 1881 but ended the same way. Witnesses During this trial there witnesses who came in to support the murder accusations of the Donnelly’s, one of them being Mr Johnny O’Conner, due to the fact that he had witnessed the whole murder with his own two eyes. The Vigilante tried to make sure he does not testify. In order to do this, the Vigilantes went on to burn the House of the O’Connor’s in April 13th. To add on the above, they did not stop in harassing his farther Mr Michael O’Connor. Lucky Johnny’s mother was in London, on the trail season, she passed Patrick ‘grouchy’ Ryder on the street as it was put. During the time the met, O’Connor’s sister laid a charge of abuse on him. During his court appearance however, he had sworn to be in Buddulph in the time of murder and the alleged fraction and this led to his discarded[can15]. And even though the vigilante tried to quiet the vigilante, it was not possible. The other witness to the crime was Mr William Donnelly. Donnelly’s being one of the neighbours reiterated that he was disturbed by the past two by two I am coming psych‘. During the incident came and John went to hide. This meant that he would not go to the Kitchen without passing the kitchen door He reiterated that he never spoke to John Donnelly, so he decided to ask, ‘whole the hottest of the family was. As he did this he kept on walking, suddenly there people shouting, ‘Fire!Fire! Open the door wheel’[can15]. The vigilante continued shouting to the point that they awoke him. After being awake he again heard the gun firing two shots. John then at this point fell back against the bedroom door, the distance between the door and the staring made a bit of difference. He played down, at some point he raised his fatigue that the other group of four vigilante in the house. He decided to take a stove in order to look at the house clearly. Here he saw James Carole, John Kennedy and James Ryder all of whom were vigilante. According to the witness, Kennedy was standing where his name was marked on the plan, while James Carroll and Ryder were also standing where their names were written on the plan; this was about nine feet from the witnesses window. The witness also claimed to have seen three other vigilantes outside the fence, according to the witness, these were Carroll, Patrick the Ryder and Michael Heenan. However he was not so clear about these three. He however was certain about John Kennedy, James Ryder and James Carroll Since they were well known to him[Sto03]. Defence As any trial would go, the defence also had witnesses of their own. Most of these witnesses as was found were families and friends of the vigilante group. They build up stories that would back up alibis for each member who stood the Trial. For example, one of the prisoners by the name John Purcell, clearly came out that he had never been a member of the vigilante and that he never knew of any meeting prior to the murder nor had he even attended any of their meetings. John also added that he worked at the James McGrath’s and lived with him, he also denied leaving the house on that fateful night. In order to defend the accused, James father and brother supported the story. The other prisoner was Thomas Ryder, he said that he was a brother to Patrick ‘Grouchy’ Ryder, he added that on the fateful night of the massacre he spent it at home playing cards with his brother in law, Valentine Mackey, James Toohey and James Ryder Senior[Tho05]. The people who were mentioned by Thomas all agreed that they had spent the night with him and after that each went home to their places. The other defendant was James Ryder Jr. who said that him and his five brothers Michael, William, John, Maurice and Patrick Jr, spent the night at their fathers house. Also Michael Blake who was a renowned vigilante also claimed that he spent the night there too. The other defendant Prisoner martin McLaughlin daughter, Temperance, also supported the story that was put across by her father by saying that he never left the house that fateful night, the other defendant Prisoner John Kennedy also defended himself by claiming that he went to Denis Carty in the company of William Hodgkin’s and James Brien went to their home to play cards[can15]. He added that all of them left together at around 9; 15PM. The other defence witnesses also testified in support of this[can15]. Verdict After listening to both sides for a period of four hours, the foreman of the Jury came forward to declare that there was no change on the agreement of the final verdict about the case. In fact, the Jury went ahead to be apologetic claiming that one member had confessed that he would not have convicted Carroll even if it was a situation that he saw the killing himself. The other voted for acquittal due to the fear of others involved in the massacre. In the end, just like the precedinghearing, the jury was undecided, seven members of the jury voted for acquit, and four voted for convict in end meaning that no one was arrested. The rule of law in the 18th Century Canada With reference to the rule of law, every individual in the country is supposed to be under the law of the land, this must be followed to, and regardless of the status the person holds in the community or the government. The rule of law requires that the law should be applied equally to all, the judges in the case of the massacre of the ‘Black Donnelly’s’ did not rightly follow the rule of law[Tho05]. This is because they seem to have also formed a presumed judgement on the Donnellys that they did not care to consider if they death was a case of massacre or not. In this regard we learn that the rule of law did not apply in the early Canadian government. The court should have showed the vigilante community that no one was above the law, but given that they no one was found guilty for the death of the Donnelly family. According to the case in hand we also see that the Canadian community was accustomed to violence some of which was contacted by legal authorities of the time, this was executed by local constables, jailers and sadly even judges[Jam08]. This could be one of the very reasons, that those who were implicated for the murder of the Donnellys would do anything to avoid being sent to jail. Conclusion Looking at the events that followed from the coming of the Donnelly’s to their death, it can be concluded that the community through the vigilante committed the crime of arson and murder against the Donnelly’s. This is because they had gone to many lengths before to ensure that the Donnelly’s stayed away from the neighbourhood as they could, and this had basically nothing to do with the burning of the barn. This shows us the kind of hatred societies have for foreign people. In addition, it also shows us that societies when they come together they can be a great force against evil. It is also shows us that the society can come together to influence jury decisions and supress justice and the rule of law. Sources Ray10: , (Fazakaz, 2010), Nat09: , (Hendelley, 2009), Tho05: , (Kely, 2005), Sto03: , (Connors, 2003), Can10: , (CanadianNewspaper, 2010), Lee03: , (Mallor, 2003), Orl08: , (Miller, 2008), Don10: , (Bloxham & Moses, 2010), can15: , (canadianmysteries, 2015), Jam08: , (Reaney & Filewod, 2008), Read More