Benjamin Briggs - Legacy

Legacy

Benjamin Briggs has living descendants through his son Arthur who was left at home with his grandmother, including Benjamin Briggs, of Boston, Massachetts and New York City, and John Briggs, of Boston, Massachusetts.

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 2008 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"