Benjamin S. Briggs papers, 1860-1950; 1860-1873.

ArchivalResource

Briggs, Benjamin S. (Benjamin Spooner), 1835-1872. Benjamin S. Briggs papers, 1860-1950; 1860-1873.

Benjamin S. Briggs papers, 1860-1950; 1860-1873.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/48856137

Personal correspondence and family photographs of the Briggs family, who disappeared from the brig Mary Celeste in the middle of the Atlantic in 1872. The correspondence is primarily by Capt. Benjamin Briggs's wife, Sarah Cobb Briggs, to her husband, mother-in-law, and her brother William Cobb, plus a few letters by Capt. Briggs to his son, his mother, and his brother-in-law William Cobb. The photographs include those of Capt. Briggs; his father, Capt. Nathan Briggs; and his two children, Arthur and Sophia. Capt. Briggs's account book lists his expenses, crew costs, etc. with the barks Arthur and Prima Donna. The miscellaneous papers include an American Ship master's Association certificate, a wedding card of the Briggs, and a receipt for personal effects bought from the estate by a member of the Cobb family. The material related to the Mary Celeste includes copies of official letters and reports concerning the abandonment of the Mary Celeste, extracts from the logs of the Mary Celeste and the brig Dei Gratia, which discovered the abandoned ship, and a typescript of evidence and testimony given in the Vice Admiralty Court of Gibraltar regarding the Mary Celeste.

1 box (.25 linear feet)

Peabody Essex Museum