What the record says
Benjamin Spooner Briggs (April 24, 1835 – died likely November 1872) was an experienced American seaman and master mariner. He was the captain of the merchant ship Mary Celeste, which was discovered unmanned and drifting in the Atlantic Ocean midway between the Azores and the coast of Portugal on December 4, 1872. The lifeboat was missing, yet the Mary Celeste was still under sail.
Summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Records change. The source is the authority.
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