Browns WI Tweedsmuir Community History, 1964-1965, p. 6

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But in the past few years, the (publication.ofâ€"story and song on the «Donnellys â€" has madesthe feud and the deaths probably . Westernâ€"â€"Ontario‘s most widely known incident of folk history. The â€"nearby village of Lucan and. residents of the Roman Line where the Donnelly clan lived, preferred. to forget: the blazing feud between the Donâ€" nellys and their neighbors that culminated in the mass murâ€" der. \ For years the Donnellys â€" old Jim, his wife, Johannah, their sons Thomas and John, and a niece, Bridget â€" lay in the St. Patrick‘s Churchyard under a forbidding stone that told of their deaths on Feb. 4, 1880, with one grim word ‘"Murdered." So, have 1$dents near the graveyard. Where they. are buried. e By. ERIC FINCH Free Press Staff Reporter Temporarily at least, the Black Donnellys of Biddulph have at least found peace and quiet. But it has taken a stout wire fence, padlocks, and a profusion of warning signs to do it. And_the_famed_ Donnelly grave Marker may Itve Bbeen removed to ensure this quieâ€" tude. Unfortunately it also. reâ€" A chain link fence encloses St. Peter‘s Catholic Church, and the _nearby cemetery at Lucan where wlat eonf 14, 1964 _ i .2 Fence Guards Donnellys‘ Graves Lombstone May Have Been Moved "If it has been removed, I am not aware of it but I susâ€" pected something would hapâ€" pen sqon along those lines," he said. J Father Bricklin was reluctâ€" ant to talk about the depradaâ€" tions of curious visitors that Yesterday an. unidentified caller‘ to CFPLâ€"Radio‘s Open Line program complained that the ©Donnelly grave marker had~ been removed from the cemetery by ‘"the parish priest." __.Rev,. _ F. .L Bricklin, rectar f ‘of St. Patrick‘s, would neither confirm nor deny. that the ‘ stone has been moved. Mr. Carter said he was not aware that the marker had been moved although he knew there was an intention to reâ€" move it from the cemetery, The rules of the cemetery allow the removal of any marker that is attracting unâ€" desirable attention, and unâ€" der.this rule an application was â€"made to and has_been approved ‘by the minister of health,, Mr. ‘Carter. said. He referred inquires to Lonâ€" don lawyer F. G. Carter, legal representative for the Diocese of London. which has ended. with the closing of the graveyard to all except relatives who wish to visit graves. sulted in a flood of ecuriâ€" osity and sensation seekers It, was reported that Faâ€" ther â€" Bricklin himself was badly handled by some visitâ€" ors.when he protested their tude attitude. Mr Carter said that the grave marker was attracting as many as 1,400 visitors a Residents of the ferred to such undes itors as those who emfity beer bottles a cemetery and held nanpies in the grar midnight." Lawyer Carter said the orâ€" der was given after a succesâ€" sion of serious desecrations of the church and churchyard ransing from defacing of the: Donhelly monument and other S o m e tres; church even orgdn loft: to 1 Others tried 4 souvenirs from markers to invasion church itself, He would say only that the enclosing of the graveyard was ordered by the late Bishop John C. Cody and the order was continued by Most Rev. G. Emmett Carter, Bishop of London. â€". has resulted in the locking of the church and cemetery. the Donnelly family was buried. Gates to the church are locked and this warning sign is posted. trespassers se who strewed bottles around the id held "hootenâ€" the graveyard at Ppassers in the climbed to the play the organ. to carry away i the church. °_the area reâ€" undesirable vigâ€" of other _ the the These signs are posted ‘near the driveway to the "But if they‘d stop writing stories and folk songs about it we could have some peace of mind." Father Bricklin agreed that the Donnelly marker is a remâ€" nant of Western Ontario hisâ€" tory of vast interest to thouâ€" sands. t week ‘to ~the churchyard. t comaft »Wieed church rectory. St. Patrick

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