Lucius R. Paige, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1630-1877, with a genealogical register

[224] a deacon of the church, and resided on the easterly side of Brighton Street, about midway between Harvard Square and Mount Auburn Street, in the house formerly owned and occupied by the Reverend Samuel Stone.

We come next to the establishment of an ordinary which was long known as the “Blue Anchor Tavern.” Dec. 27, 1652, “The Townsmen do grant liberty to Andrew Belcher to sell beer and bread, for entertainment of strangers and the good of the town;” ¹ and the County Court granted him a license, June 20, 1654, “to keep a house of public entertainment at Cambridge.” Mr. Belcher was a trustworthy man, occasionally employed by the General Court to perform important duties. He was respectably connected; his wife was daughter of Mr. Nicholas Danforth and sister of Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth; their son, Andrew Belcher, Jr., was a member of the Council, and his son, Jonathan Belcher, was Governor of Massachusetts and of New Jersey. It does not appear where he first opened a “beer and bread” shop, or a “house of public entertainment;” but on the first of October, 1671, his son Andrew, then residing in Hartford, Conn., purchased of Sarah Beal, widow of Deacon Thomas Beal, an estate at the northeast corner of Brighton and Mount Auburn streets, where the sign of the Blue Anchor was soon afterwards displayed. Mr. Belcher was licensed for the last time in April, 1673, in which year he probably died. In April, 1674, license was granted to his widow Elizabeth Belcher, and afterwards from year to year until she died, June 26, 1680. She was succeeded by her son Andrew Belcher, who was licensed in 1681 and 1682.² In September, 1682, Capt. Belcher sold the estate to his brother-in-law Jonathan Remington, who performed the duties of host until April 21, 1700, when he died, and was succeeded by his widow, Martha Remington, daughter of the first Andrew Belcher. The Belcher family ceased to be inn-holders May 12, 1705, when the widow and children of Captain Remington sold to Joseph Hovey the estate “near the market-place, commonly called and known by the sign of the Blue Anchor.” Joseph Hovey retained the house only four years, and then sold it to his brother John Hovey, who died in 1715. His widow Abiel Hovey