Folk Figure. Born in in Borrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland. In 1840 he married Johannah Magee, and a year later became a father to the first of eight children. In the troubled country, factionalism ruled and the Donnelly family were said to have been damned for patronizing the Protestant British merchants. To escape the troubles, the Donnellys emigrated to Canada between 1842 and 1844 where the rest of the children were born; William, John, Patrick, Michael, Robert, Thomas, and Jennie. They moved to Wellington County, Biddulph Township and apparently squatted on 100 acres of unsupervised government land, a property owned by an absentee landlord, and he worked it without permission. He did turn the property into one of the more prosperous farms in the area. He and his sons, however, developed a reputation for confrontation, settling most arguments with their fists, and made enemies. In 1855, the land owner brought in a new tenant, and upon discovery of Donnelly's tenancy, tried to have him evicted. A judge found that since Donnelly made the improvements, he was entitled to half the land outright, the other half went to the new tenant. Donnelly was continually provoked by a relative of the tenant, unhappy with the decision. When it came to blows, Donnelly killed the man in a fight, and was sentenced to hang. His wife intervened, and petitioned for clemency. His death penalty was eventually commuted to a seven-year sentence in Kingston Penitentiary, he was released 1865. His troubles did not cease, however, he continued to be at odds with other factions and was heard to complain that every crime and unlucky event was laid at his door. When his foes allegedly burned a barn belonging to a friend, and blamed Johannah and James, James suggested he had counter charges to bring against the actual arsonists. This threat is suggested as the reason for the raid in the early hours of 4 February 1880, during which some 30 men invaded the Donnelly homestead and brutally murdered James, Johannah, son Tom, and a visiting niece, Bridget. A witness testified the patriarch's body was mutilated before the house was fired. The recovered bodies were so burned and reduced that they were buried in one casket. After two trials, none of the accused murderers were ever convicted. The gravestone erected by a surviving son was removed and replaced in 1964 so the word "murdered" was not included.