William Tailer
Encyclopedia
William Tailer was a military officer and politician in the Province of Massachusetts Bay
. Born into the wealthy and influential Stoughton family, he twice married into other politically powerful families. He served as lieutenant governor of the province from 1711 until 1716, and again in the early 1730s. During each of these times he was briefly acting governor. He was a political opponent of Governor Joseph Dudley
, and was a supporter of a land bank proposal intended to address the province's currency problems. During his first tenure as acting governor he authorized the erection of Boston Light
, the earliest lighthouse
in what is now the United States
.
He was active in the provincial defense, and commanded a regiment in the 1710 siege
of Port Royal
, the capital of French Acadia
, during Queen Anne's War
. He was responsible for overseeing the defenses of Boston in the 1720s, and was sent to negotiate with the Iroquois
and Abenaki during Dummer's War
. Jonathan Belcher
, initially a political opponent, later became an ally, and selected him to serve as his lieutenant governor in 1730. Tailer held the post until is death, and was interred in the tomb of his uncle, William Stoughton
.
, Massachusetts Bay Colony
on February 25, 1675/6 to William Tailer and Rebecca Stoughton Tailer. His mother was the daughter of early Massachusetts settler Israel Stoughton
and sister to magistrate William Stoughton
. His father was a wealthy landowner and merchant. His father owned commercial real estate in Boston
and was a member of the Atherton Company, one of New England's most powerful and well-connected land development partnerships. He was also one of "a selected fraternity" of merchants engaged in the "eastward trade" with neighboring French Acadia
, one of whose leading members was Boston merchant John Nelson
. Tailer's father committed suicide in 1682, apparently suffering from depression which may have been brought on by financial reverses.
The younger Tailer inherited a substantial estate; it was reported that in 1695 his guardians operated five mills on his behalf. He was also a beneficiary of the large estate of his uncle, who died a childless bachelor. By 1702 Tailer had married Sarah Byfield, daughter to Nathaniel Byfield, another leading colonial magistrate. She died childless in about 1708. Byfield and Tailer's father had been business partners, a relationship that Tailer continued.
Tailer was a captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and served in the provincial militia during Queen Anne's War
. In 1710 he commanded a militia regiment that saw action at the capture of Port Royal, Acadia
. Following the victory he went London
with Francis Nicholson
, the expedition's leader, where he was "bigg with expectation" of advancement. His expectations were rewarded with a commission as lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
, serving under Governor Joseph Dudley
. He then returned to Massachusetts, where he was again active in the defense of the colonies, serving at Fort William and Mary
in New Hampshire, and reporting on the frontier defenses in what is now southern Maine
(but was then part of Massachusetts). In early 1711/2 he married Abigail Gillam Dudley, widow of Joseph Dudley's grandson Thomas. The couple had six children, who they raised in the old Stoughton homestead in Dorchester.
in the colony, Tailer among them, were skeptical of Dudley's faith. (Dudley had been raised in the Puritan
way, and had formally adopted Anglican practices while in England in the 1690s.) He and Dudley were also on opposite sides of the debate on the province's currency problems. Dudley favored the issuance of public bills of credit
as a means to circumvent the inflationary issuance of paper currency that had become a serious problem by the end of Queen Anne's War in 1713, while Tailer, along with his father-in-law Nathaniel Byfield and others, favored the establishment of a private land bank, that would issue bills secured by the lands of its investors.
Byfield in 1714 went to London to lobby on behalf of the land bank interests, and to seek for himself the post of governor, which was open for consideration after the accession of King George I
to the throne. He was unsuccessful in acquiring the governorship, but was able to convince Colonel Elizeus Burgess, who had been chosen to replace Dudley, to keep Tailer on as lieutenant governor. Burgess, however, was bribed by land bank opponents to resign his post before leaving England. The commissions of Burgess and Tailer had by then been sent to Massachusetts, and Tailer became acting governor in November 1715 after they were formally proclaimed.
Immediately after taking office Tailer engaged in political housecleaning, eliminating land bank opponents and Dudley supporters from a number of provincial positions. His efforts, however, backfired: the provincial assembly elected Joseph Dudley's son Paul as attorney general, and London agents of the anti-bank party worked to ensure Tailer's replacement. (One of those agents, Jonathan Belcher
, would ironically become a Tailer ally in later years and secure the lieutenant governorship for him the third time.) Through their efforts the king chose Colonel Samuel Shute
, a land bank opponent, to replace Burgess, and William Dummer
as Shute's lieutenant governor. Tailer was turned out of office with Shute's arrival in October 1716. Shute deliberately snubbed Tailer upon his arrival, choosing to first meet with the Dudleys instead.
The only major long-term accomplishment of Tailer's tenure as acting governor was the establishment of Boston Light
, the first lighthouse
built in what is now the United States
. While a member of the assembly, Tailer had sat on the legislative committee that drafted the enabling and funding bills, and he signed them after he became governor.
claims to Nova Scotia. Nelson sought recompense for the loss of the territory in the 1667 Treaty of Breda, but Tailer's efforts were in vain. He also lobbied on his own behalf for a military pension. He successfully convinced Lord Cobham
that he deserved one for his service at Port Royal in 1710, and was awarded the half pay of a colonel, amounting to £400 per year. John Nelson observed that Tailer's loss of the lieutenant governorship (worth £50 per year) "has proved much to his advantage".
Tailer eventually returned to Massachusetts. Under Shute's governorship he was several times involved in negotiations with Indians on the northern frontiers, and continued to be active in the provincial militia. Tailer accompanied Shute on an expedition to Maine to negotiate with the Abenaki of northern New England in 1717. Shute handled the negotiations poorly, raising tensions between the Abenaki and British settlers. In 1720 Tailer was one of several commissioners sent to mediate between the settlers and Abenaki. Although a potential basis for agreement was identified, continued raiding and disagreement on the details of proposed terms caused the situation to deteriorate further. Shute declared war
on the Abenaki in July 1722 following raids against British settlements on the Maine coast.
Shute's ongoing conflicts with the provincial assembly prompted him to leave for England in early 1723, leaving handling of the war in Lieutenant Governor Dummer's hands. Tailer was one of the lead members of a party sent in 1723 to Albany, New York
in an attempt to convince the Iroquois
to join the conflict against the Abenaki. The embassy was unsuccessful: the Iroquois resisted all attempts to bring them into the war against the Abenaki. Tailer continued to be involved in the war, where he was responsible for maintaining Boston's defenses.
died in 1729, Belcher was in London, acting as agent for Connecticut
and assisting in lobbying against Burnet's unpopular insistence on a permanent salary. Belcher successfully gained for himself the post of governor, and then secured for Tailer another appointment as lieutenant governor. Tailer's commission was proclaimed before Belcher's arrival, and he briefly served as acting governor while awaiting his superior's arrival. The few months were uneventful, as the province was then suffering from an outbreak of smallpox
, because of which Tailer prorogued
the assembly.
Tailer died in Dorchester, while serving as lieutenant governor, in March 1731/2. His pallbearers included Governor Belcher and other leading political figures. He is buried in the tomb of his uncle, Willam Stoughton, in what is now called the Dorchester North Burying Ground
.
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
. Born into the wealthy and influential Stoughton family, he twice married into other politically powerful families. He served as lieutenant governor of the province from 1711 until 1716, and again in the early 1730s. During each of these times he was briefly acting governor. He was a political opponent of Governor Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley was an English colonial administrator. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England , and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York, where he oversaw the trial...
, and was a supporter of a land bank proposal intended to address the province's currency problems. During his first tenure as acting governor he authorized the erection of Boston Light
Boston Light
Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States...
, the earliest lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
in what is now the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
He was active in the provincial defense, and commanded a regiment in the 1710 siege
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
of Port Royal
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
, the capital of French Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
, during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
. He was responsible for overseeing the defenses of Boston in the 1720s, and was sent to negotiate with the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
and Abenaki during Dummer's War
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
. Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...
, initially a political opponent, later became an ally, and selected him to serve as his lieutenant governor in 1730. Tailer held the post until is death, and was interred in the tomb of his uncle, William Stoughton
William Stoughton (Massachusetts)
William Stoughton was a colonial magistrate and admininstrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the...
.
Early life and military service
William Tailer was born in DorchesterDorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
, Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
on February 25, 1675/6 to William Tailer and Rebecca Stoughton Tailer. His mother was the daughter of early Massachusetts settler Israel Stoughton
Israel Stoughton
Israel Stoughton was an early English colonist in Massachusetts, and later a Parliamentarian officer in the First English Civil War.-Life:...
and sister to magistrate William Stoughton
William Stoughton (Massachusetts)
William Stoughton was a colonial magistrate and admininstrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the...
. His father was a wealthy landowner and merchant. His father owned commercial real estate in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and was a member of the Atherton Company, one of New England's most powerful and well-connected land development partnerships. He was also one of "a selected fraternity" of merchants engaged in the "eastward trade" with neighboring French Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
, one of whose leading members was Boston merchant John Nelson
John Nelson (merchant)
John Nelson was an English colonial merchant, trader, and statesman, active in New England.-Early life:John Nelson was born near London, England in 1654 to Robert and Mary Nelson...
. Tailer's father committed suicide in 1682, apparently suffering from depression which may have been brought on by financial reverses.
Tailer was a captain of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and served in the provincial militia during Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
. In 1710 he commanded a militia regiment that saw action at the capture of Port Royal, Acadia
Siege of Port Royal (1710)
The Siege of Port Royal , also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal...
. Following the victory he went London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
with Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson was a British military officer and colonial administrator. His military service included time in Africa and Europe, after which he was sent as leader of the troops supporting Sir Edmund Andros in the Dominion of New England. There he distinguished himself, and was appointed...
, the expedition's leader, where he was "bigg with expectation" of advancement. His expectations were rewarded with a commission as lieutenant governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
, serving under Governor Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley was an English colonial administrator. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England , and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York, where he oversaw the trial...
. He then returned to Massachusetts, where he was again active in the defense of the colonies, serving at Fort William and Mary
Fort William and Mary
Fort William and Mary was a colonial defensive post on the island of New Castle, New Hampshire at the mouth of the Piscataqua River estuary. First fortified by the British in 1632, the fort guarded access to the harbor at Portsmouth....
in New Hampshire, and reporting on the frontier defenses in what is now southern Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
(but was then part of Massachusetts). In early 1711/2 he married Abigail Gillam Dudley, widow of Joseph Dudley's grandson Thomas. The couple had six children, who they raised in the old Stoughton homestead in Dorchester.
Acting governor of Massachusetts
Tailer was elected to the Governor's Council from 1712 to 1729, and was on three separate occasions commissioned as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Despite his connection by marriage to the Dudleys, he had an awkward political relationship with the governor during the period of his first two commissions. A number of AnglicansChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
in the colony, Tailer among them, were skeptical of Dudley's faith. (Dudley had been raised in the Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
way, and had formally adopted Anglican practices while in England in the 1690s.) He and Dudley were also on opposite sides of the debate on the province's currency problems. Dudley favored the issuance of public bills of credit
Bills of Credit
Bill of credit is a phrase from Article One, Section 10, Clause One of the United States Constitution. It refers to a document similar to a banknote that is issued by a government and designed to circulate as money. Because the framers of the Constitution sought to limit the issuance of currency,...
as a means to circumvent the inflationary issuance of paper currency that had become a serious problem by the end of Queen Anne's War in 1713, while Tailer, along with his father-in-law Nathaniel Byfield and others, favored the establishment of a private land bank, that would issue bills secured by the lands of its investors.
Byfield in 1714 went to London to lobby on behalf of the land bank interests, and to seek for himself the post of governor, which was open for consideration after the accession of King George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
to the throne. He was unsuccessful in acquiring the governorship, but was able to convince Colonel Elizeus Burgess, who had been chosen to replace Dudley, to keep Tailer on as lieutenant governor. Burgess, however, was bribed by land bank opponents to resign his post before leaving England. The commissions of Burgess and Tailer had by then been sent to Massachusetts, and Tailer became acting governor in November 1715 after they were formally proclaimed.
Immediately after taking office Tailer engaged in political housecleaning, eliminating land bank opponents and Dudley supporters from a number of provincial positions. His efforts, however, backfired: the provincial assembly elected Joseph Dudley's son Paul as attorney general, and London agents of the anti-bank party worked to ensure Tailer's replacement. (One of those agents, Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher
Jonathan Belcher was colonial governor of the British provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and New Jersey.-Early life:Jonathan Belcher was born in Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay, in 1682...
, would ironically become a Tailer ally in later years and secure the lieutenant governorship for him the third time.) Through their efforts the king chose Colonel Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute
Samuel Shute was a military officer and royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. After serving in the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession, he was appointed by King George I as governor of Massachusetts in 1716...
, a land bank opponent, to replace Burgess, and William Dummer
William Dummer
William Dummer was Acting Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1723 to 1728.-Family:Dummer was born in Boston and died in Newbury, Massachusetts, the son of Jeremiah Dummer, the first American born silversmith, and Anna Atwater...
as Shute's lieutenant governor. Tailer was turned out of office with Shute's arrival in October 1716. Shute deliberately snubbed Tailer upon his arrival, choosing to first meet with the Dudleys instead.
The only major long-term accomplishment of Tailer's tenure as acting governor was the establishment of Boston Light
Boston Light
Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States...
, the first lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
built in what is now the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. While a member of the assembly, Tailer had sat on the legislative committee that drafted the enabling and funding bills, and he signed them after he became governor.
Provincial military service
He next traveled to England. There he lobbied, on behalf of John Nelson, heir to Sir Thomas Temple'sThomas Temple
Sir Thomas Temple, 1st Baronet was a British proprietor, governor of Acadia/ Nova Scotia...
claims to Nova Scotia. Nelson sought recompense for the loss of the territory in the 1667 Treaty of Breda, but Tailer's efforts were in vain. He also lobbied on his own behalf for a military pension. He successfully convinced Lord Cobham
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham
Field Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham PC was a British soldier and Whig politician. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.-Early life:Temple was the son of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd...
that he deserved one for his service at Port Royal in 1710, and was awarded the half pay of a colonel, amounting to £400 per year. John Nelson observed that Tailer's loss of the lieutenant governorship (worth £50 per year) "has proved much to his advantage".
Tailer eventually returned to Massachusetts. Under Shute's governorship he was several times involved in negotiations with Indians on the northern frontiers, and continued to be active in the provincial militia. Tailer accompanied Shute on an expedition to Maine to negotiate with the Abenaki of northern New England in 1717. Shute handled the negotiations poorly, raising tensions between the Abenaki and British settlers. In 1720 Tailer was one of several commissioners sent to mediate between the settlers and Abenaki. Although a potential basis for agreement was identified, continued raiding and disagreement on the details of proposed terms caused the situation to deteriorate further. Shute declared war
Dummer's War
Dummer's War , also known as Lovewell's War, Father Rale's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the 4th Indian War or the Wabanaki-New England War of 1722–1725, was a series of battles between British settlers of the three northernmost British colonies of North America of the time and the...
on the Abenaki in July 1722 following raids against British settlements on the Maine coast.
Shute's ongoing conflicts with the provincial assembly prompted him to leave for England in early 1723, leaving handling of the war in Lieutenant Governor Dummer's hands. Tailer was one of the lead members of a party sent in 1723 to Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
in an attempt to convince the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
to join the conflict against the Abenaki. The embassy was unsuccessful: the Iroquois resisted all attempts to bring them into the war against the Abenaki. Tailer continued to be involved in the war, where he was responsible for maintaining Boston's defenses.
Reprise as acting governor
Tailer's politics shifted during the 1720s, and he and Byfield came to align more closely with the populist faction. As a result he and one-time opponent Jonathan Belcher became allies. When Governor William BurnetWilliam Burnet (administrator)
William Burnet was a British civil servant and colonial administrator who served as governor of New York and New Jersey and Massachusetts .-Early life:...
died in 1729, Belcher was in London, acting as agent for Connecticut
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
and assisting in lobbying against Burnet's unpopular insistence on a permanent salary. Belcher successfully gained for himself the post of governor, and then secured for Tailer another appointment as lieutenant governor. Tailer's commission was proclaimed before Belcher's arrival, and he briefly served as acting governor while awaiting his superior's arrival. The few months were uneventful, as the province was then suffering from an outbreak of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, because of which Tailer prorogued
Prorogation
Prorogation is the time between legislative sessions.*For general information on the procedure see Legislative session.*For prorogation in the constitution of ancient Rome, see Prorogatio.*For the use of the mechanism in Canada, see Prorogation in Canada....
the assembly.
Tailer died in Dorchester, while serving as lieutenant governor, in March 1731/2. His pallbearers included Governor Belcher and other leading political figures. He is buried in the tomb of his uncle, Willam Stoughton, in what is now called the Dorchester North Burying Ground
Dorchester North Burying Ground
The Dorchester North Burying Ground is a historic cemetery at Stoughton Street and Columbia Road in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
.