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The Black Donnelly Massacre
The Donnelly family was an immigrant family from Ireland who lived in the town of Biddulph, Ontario.
What sparked the massacre? It was the death of Patrick Farrell, who died after a drunken altercation with James Donnelly. It was more than a fist to the face- in fact, it was a spiked club to the head. He served 7 years for that, but for whatever reason, every subsequent crime in Biddulph was blamed on the Donnelly family.
A group of vigilantes, led by the town’s police constable, clubbed the Donnelly family to death, and lit their house on fire. Instead of there being a trial, the prosecution dropped the case to avoid any further negative news about their town.
