Benjamin Briggs

Captain Benjamin Briggs in an undated photo

Benjamin Spooner Briggs (24 April 1835 – c. 1872) was an experienced United States seaman and master mariner. He is famous today for being the Captain of the merchant ship Mary Celeste when she was discovered unmanned and drifting in the Atlantic Ocean near the Straits of Gibraltar, on 4 December 1872. The lifeboat was missing, yet the Mary Celeste herself was still under sail and there were signs of a sudden and unexplained abandonment. Benjamin Briggs, his wife Sarah and two-year-old daughter Sophia Matilda, along with the crew of the Mary Celeste, and the lifeboat, were never found and presumed lost.

Maritime career

The Briggs family of Massachusetts had a long maritime connection, and Benjamin Briggs himself spent most of his life at sea. He was an experienced, hardy and able seaman. He reportedly was respected by those who served under him because of his fairness and ability. He worked his way to eventually become a master mariner. Briggs captained the brigantine Sea Foam, and in 1862 became master of the three-masted schooner Forest King. When he took command of the bark Arthur in 1865, he turned over command of the Forest King to his brother, Oliver Briggs. Oliver Briggs was a frequent business partner and sailor with his brother.

Family

Benjamin Briggs was devoutly religious and a believer in abstinence. In 1862, he married Sarah Elizabeth Cobb, daughter of the Reverend Leander Cobb. The newly weds sailed to Europe in Benjamin's schooner Forest King. Their son, Arthur S. Briggs, was born in 1865 at the family home at Rose Cottage, Marion, Massachusetts. The following year, the family travelled to Marseilles, France, returning in time for their daughter, Sophia Matilda Briggs, to be born on 31 October 1870 at Rose Cottage.

Mary Celeste

Main article: Mary Celeste

In 1871 Briggs and his brother considered giving up the sea and buying a hardware store in New Bedford. In 1872, however, Benjamin Briggs bought a share in the brigantine Amazon, owned by James Winchester, and made modifications to the cabin to house his family. In late 1872, two-year-old Sophia and his wife Sarah accompanied him on the ill fated voyage from Staten Island, New York, to Genoa, Italy. Their son Arthur stayed with his grandmother at Rose Cottage, Marion, Massachusetts, to attend school.

The following month Briggs' ship was found inexplicably abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean near the Straits of Gibraltar. Briggs, his wife and daughter, and the crew of the Mary Celeste were never found. Their fate remains a mystery.

Legacy

Benjamin Briggs has living descendants through his son Arthur who was left at home with his grandmother.^[1]

Briggs has been mentioned numerous times in conspiracy theories and fiction regarding the disappearance of the Mary Celeste, including the 1935 Hammer Film Productions The Mystery of the Marie Celeste, which starred Bela Lugosi. A fictionalized version of Cpt. Benjamin Briggs was also seen in the 1965 Doctor Who episode The Chase. He was also the protagonist of the 2006 computer game Limbo of the Lost.

In 1884, only twelve years after the incident, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, wrote a fictionalized account of the Mary Celeste titled J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement. One reviewer sought to attribute the story to Robert Louis Stevenson, while critics compared it to Edgar Allan Poe. Doyle changed the spelling of the ship from Mary to Marie Celeste. Unfortunately, much of the fictional content and the incorrect name, have merged with fact in popular accounts of the incident. These include especially numerous things found on board the vessel which were not. Doyle also put forward the theory that the crew were murdered by African-American killers on a racist jihad against all caucasians.A cenotaph memorializing the family stands in Evergreen Cemetery, Marion, Massachusetts. The inscription reads: "Capt. Benj S. Briggs born Apr 24, 1835, Sarah E Cobb his wife born Apr 20 1841, Sophia M, their daughter, then 10 mos, born Oct 31, 1870. Lost in Brig Mary Celeste Nov 1872" ^[2]

References

1. ^ The Mystery Of The Mary Celeste: Revealed ABC Television, 13 November 2008
2. ^ Capt Benjamin Spooner Briggs (1835 - 1872) Find A Grave

External links

• Memorial cenotaph to Briggs

Persondata
Name	Briggs, Benjamin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1835
Place of birth
Date of death	1872
Place of death