The Black Donnellys

I first became aware of this story in my last year of High School in 1954,in Nova Scotia.Thomas P.Kelley wrote a book called "The Black Donnellys" and about the same time the story was carried in the Weekend Magazine,which was inserted in local newspapers,much the same as the TV guides are today.This is the first time that this story became widely known,across Canada as well as other countries.The local newspapers around London,Ontario had been carrying stories about feuding,barn burnings,and what not for years;but interest was mainly local. However,it all came to a head in an awful massacre on February 4 1880.The major papers across Ontario carried the stories and the country was shocked.Just to put it into perspective,this was the same time period as the Wild West and the Shoot-out at the OK Corral ,Wyatt Earp,and all,in Tombstone Arizona.This was not a pretty scene and which cast an awful shadow on the community.After a few years,the story became something that the community would not talk about and hoped would go away,much the same as JFK and Dallas.The story was beginning to fade when in the late 1940's a pulp writer wrote a couple of articles on the story.His wife had come from the area ,and Kelly had heard quite a bit about it.He really got interested ,did some research,spent some time there and in 1954 his book was published.Great,long painful,detailed research was not his style.He would get the essence of the story,write a full account filling in any blanks from his imagination;down to and including conversations .He was more interested in getting the story told and writing as an exciting tale as he could.He was definately writing for the mass appeal of the "pulp" market and not writing a paper for the historical community.No doubt he succeeded in a way that even he never imagined.His book captured the interest of the country,sold several million copies,numerous editions,and spawned a number of books being written about the Donnellys.Kelley wrote a second book on the Donnellys in 1962 "Vengence of the Black Donnellys"It is almost all made up based on the most scant information,and purports to tell what evil eventually came to those who murdered the Donnellys.It is purely fictional,but a great fun and imaginative read. These are the only books Kelley wrote on the Donnellys,but they are the most exciting to read and tell the essence of the story,and had he not written them,I doubt if the story would be known as it is today.There is a great deal of nit-picking by readers as well as writers over Kelly's books ,but argue as you wish ,he was the first,and got a lot of people interested.I believe in giving credit where credit is due;and he ,more than anyone else created the legend.In the same way as Margaret Mitchell did with "Gone With The Wind" In both of his books he has a verse from what he calls -Old Song.In "The Black Donnellys" after the closing line; "There Goes Another Of The Bastards tTo Hell!" the ballad concludes; "Oh al

i read this edition after others in the series and found it to be as interesting as any of the others offered.while all can opinionate as to the situation at the time,none will ever truly know how every action came to its end.kelley offers his view towards this as do many other writers,none is anymore accurate than the next and all are tainted by thier personal feeling towards the event.while i feel it may not be entirely accurate in its history,it does offer a glimpse into kelleys view of the crime and that in itself is worthy of the read.i also recommend his other edition,'vengence of....'.also an excellent read.

I read this book a few months ago and really enjoyed it. It was vividly described by Mr. Kelley. I would also recomend The Donnelly Album. I would just like to say that as an Irish descendent whose family immigrated to Ontario I feel that it is a good depiction.

I have read this novel several times, and it is still exciting. I just can't believe that something so dramatic has happened so close to where I live. I would have liked to know more of what they looked like. The only thing it said was that they were six foot and handsome. I think that T. Kelley has done a magnificant job on all the research and writing the novel. I would have liked to know when the other Donnellys died (William etc.) Overall I really recommend this book.

Beeing a decendant of the masacre I find it verry good reading.