Donnelly, Johannah

[ Johannah (Judith) Donnelly , This drawing originally appeared in the 1880 newspaper coverage of the Donnelly murders. It is reprinted in Donald L. Cosens, ed. Johannah Magee was born in 1820 in Ireland. Johannah (also known as Judy, Judith, Julia, etc.) married James Donnelly in 1840 and gave birth to a son (James Jr.) in 1841. The couple then moved to Canada where they settled in Biddulph Township along the Roman Line. In total, the couple had eight children. A strong woman, she managed to hold onto the family farm while her husband James was away in prison for seven years. She encouraged the creation of a school on the Donnelly property. Johannah was killed in her home on February 4, 1880 by a mob. After the murder, newspapers characterized her as a severe woman, but others claimed she “was soft spoken and was a gentlewoman.”

Source:
James Reaney,The Donnelly Documents: An Ontario Vendetta (Toronto: The Champlain Society, 2004), p. xxvii.

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