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. 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 Burnet 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. Notes References Colonial governors of Massachusetts Lieutenant Governors of colonial Massachusetts British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession Military personnel from colonial Massachusetts People from colonial Boston 1676 births 1732 deaths