George Thomas Taylor of Johnston began his milk delivery route when he was 16 years old. In the decades that followed, he gained a great number of devoted customers and friends. Each day, he’d load his containers of milk into his wagon and make his rounds - until he was accused of poisoning the milk.

George resided on George Waterman Road, on the Waterman farm where he had been born. He and his wife Elizabeth Rachel (Steele) had two grown children. William was born in 1876 and Cora, born in 1880. Things had not always been blissful for Elizabeth and George. During the autumn of 1887, he posted a public notice stating that Elizabeth had left him and that he refused to be financially responsible for any debts she incurred while out of his house. They evidently worked things out but Elizabeth died at the age of 57 on Dec. 7, 1910 following a lingering illness. After her mother’s death, Cora moved in with George to keep house for him.

More bad luck followed in Sept. 1912 when George was taking a ride in his nephew’s automobile. While passing through Wickford, the auto tipped over and both men were hurled out. George refused to see a doctor despite the fact that he was barely able to get around for quite some time and it was suspected that he was suffering from broken ribs and in-ternal injuries.

Eventually George healed enough to resume his milk route. In Nov. 1913, the State Superintendent of Health was making the rounds of working farms when he stopped at George’s to take some samples of his milk.  Along with the milk from several other farms in the area, George’s milk was found to contain formaldehyde.

It was common practice in the late 1800s and early 1900s for dairy peddlers to add toxic substances to their milk. Chalk made milk thicker. Water increased its volume. Formaldehyde and embalming fluid – both strong preservatives – gave milk a longer shelf life and allowed it to appear fresh longer.

George was formally charged with having adulterated milk in his possession with intent to sell. His immediate response was defensive. He assured his family and friends that he was an honest businessman and was prepared to fight the charge. However, the moment word got around that their trusted milkman had been accused of tampering with the milk he left them to drink, many of George’ longtime customers cancelled their standing orders.

George was ordered to appear in court to answer to the charge on Dec. 4, 1913. Whether he was guilty and ashamed, or innocent and embarrassed, we will never know. What we do know is that at 3:30 that morning, several hours before he was to stand in court, he went out to the old barn located about 100 feet from his house and began his day the same way he always did. He cleaned and fed his horses and loaded his wagon for delivery. Then he laid a blanket on the floor, stepped upon it and fired two shots at himself.