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.
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