of the family's trading activities. In 1708, he traveled again to London, where he secured a major contract with The Admiralty. Before returning to Massachusetts he once again traveled to Hanover, where he was well received at court. The war effort caused economic upheavals in Massachusetts, and the Belchers, who stockpiled grain and other supplies for military use, became a focus for popular discontent when food shortages arose late in the war. The family's warehouses were the targets of mob action, and Belcher was beaten by a mob on one occasion. His own investments Belcher's merchant interests included the occasional involvement in slave trading. He is known to have owned slaves as well, ordering them from his friend, Isaac Royall Sr. He presented an enslaved Indian to Electress Sophia on his second visit to Hanover in 1708. Despite this, he expressed a distaste for slavery, writing in 1739, "We have but few in these parts, and I wish there were less." In addition to the mercantile trade, the Belcher family also had extensive land holdings in New England. Due to errors in early surveys of the line between Massachusetts and neighboring Connecticut, Massachusetts in the early 1700s gave lands in the central portion of the province to Connecticut as compensation for the survey errors, which were in its favor. When Connecticut auctioned off these "Equivalent Lands" in 1716, Belcher was one of the buyers. The lands he was allocated were eventually incorporated as Belchertown. Belcher also inherited property from his father that was located in what is now Wallingford and Meriden, Connecticut. He spent a significant amount of money in an unsuccessful attempt to profitably mine the property for metal ores, particularly copper. In 1714 Belcher expanded his mining interests, acquiring a stake in a mine in Simsbury (now East Granby, Connecticut). In 1735 he reported having invested £15,000 in these ventures, which failed in part because under British law at the time it was illegal to smelt copper in the colonies, necessitating the costly shipment of ores to England. He eventually established a technically illegal smelting operation. (The Simsbury site, later used by the state as a prison, is now a National Historic Landmark.) Upon the accession of King George I in 1714, Andrew Belcher sent Jonathan to London, seeking to capitalize on the existing connection to the new king. During this trip Belcher engaged in recruiting for his