Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-09-06
COMMITTED SUICIDE.
William A. Bolton Poisons Himself by
the Use Of Strychnine.
Dead Man Leaves Note-Henry Frost Tells
His Story.

known dS buD, committed suicide,
Thursday morning, sometime between the
hours Of 6 30 and 80 o'clock, by the use
of strychnine, probably in fit of de-
spondency.
He was found lying on his back on the
ground, near Young's boom, by Henry
Frost, who had been in his company all
night. Frost Immediately notified Cor
oner Libby and City Marshal Bean of his
discovery. Both officials Immediately
went to the place where the
body lay The coroner, after closely
Questioning Frost decided that Bolton
came to his death by the use Of strychnine
administered by himself every indication
tending to show that he thus met his
death. A coroner 5 Jury was deemed un-
necessary. A small via containing about d
sixteenth of an ounce of the deadly poison
was found upon his person He had prob
ably been dead two hours when discog-
cred. The body was taken to the under
taking rooms Of Trouant & Bates, where
it was properly cared for.
Henry Frost, who for some time past
had been Bottoms boon companion, in
answer to queries by "a Journal reporter,
spoke. in substance, as follows;
"Bolton and myself had been drinking
heavily all night long downing oonbi-
rf MI !, ie-
key and ending with what is commonly
called split, " that Is a mixture of water
and alcohol. The only thing that l re-
member, last night, both of US were in
such an intoxicated condition, was of
drinking pint Of rum at O'Clock on the
depot platform From then | recolIect
nothing until this morning when We
woke up, near the railroad track short
distance from the crossing at Rines hill
I'VE then walked up street. as far as
Aliens corner and remained there I'M
til 30 clock, this morning, Bolton in
the meantime reading the kennebec Jour
nal. After he had finished reading the pa
per he said to me, Henry, Pm going down
in the willows, near Jim Ioung's old
boom, to lie down and sleep. 1 am feeling
ont of sorts, ain terrible sick and think a
good nap Will do mo 10 harm. l proba
bly, will never sec you again-am going to
get out of town and strike job some
where If can. | will surely not see you
tonight
After drinking half pint of rum he
left me- ] then went into Viewer res
taurant and ate my breakfast. l thought
nothing of the matter until clock when
the idea suddenly struck me that Bolton
had all eighth of an ounce bottle OF strych
nine upon his person As he had spoken
to me several times of killing himself, I
to investigate the case After
searching around the coal sheds, the
wharves and the river bank from the Ken
nebeo bridge to Young's boom, suddenly
run across him near Al Pedders boat
house, about "a stones throw from the
steamboat wharf.
"Thc sight that behcld was enough to
make any strong man weak. Life
was extinct. / Immediately notified the
authorities who said he came by his
death by poisoning, concluded Frost.
When closely questioned by the Journal
man, Frost said he knew not where Boil |
ton procured the strychninc, but that he
had often spoke of his wife, Maggie, who
died about nine weeks ago. Since her
death he has not been the same, in fact |
has been drinking heavily all the time
There can be no doubt but that the act
of Bolton was premeditated; for the
officials, after a careful search of bis pock |
cts, found the following, written In a
book. The writing was
very coarse and could not easily be de
ciphered.
Maggie Bolton died June Is, 1895.
And W. a. Bolton died broken Hearted
and when am Dead VIII you Please Lay
me long Side by my Wife" i
In his pocket was also found an ounce
bottle of laudanum, tho label of a Gard |
iner drug store being upon the bottle.
Where Bolton procured the strychnine
mystery, 1t is very difficult
for man of his reputation to buy any of
this harmful drug in Augusta. The small
bottle which he had was probably bought
in Gardiner or some other city outside of
Augusta
The Death of william Bolton recalls the
fact that of the long list Of Bottoms who
have lived in Augusta, hardly one of
them died in a natural way Jacob Britt,
a cousin to the dead man, was run over
by the cars some eight years ago; Andrew
Bolton, Williams father, was also. run
over by train few years ago; one of
the victims brothers was drowned years
ago; and Jacob Bolton, an uncle, was
killed by an accident last June