The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Briggs, Benjamin, 1760-1834

Benjamin Briggs Account Book

1805-1820
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 173 bd

Ship’s captain and cobbler from Scituate, Massachusetts. Includes list of ship expenses (harbor master’s fees, wages, wharf fees, provisions, carpenter and blacksmith bills, and bills for loading labor, rigging, and mending the sails), debt accounts with individuals, and accounts for making and mending shoes and boots.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

In 1805-06, Captain Benjamin Briggs (1760-1834) of Scituate, Massachusetts listed the expenses of running his ship. He paid for harbor master’s fees, wages, “wharfage at St. Mary’s”, provisions, carpenter and blacksmith bills, glasses and plates, “pylotage”, loading labor, rigging, mending the sails, and more. Individuals whom he paid repeatedly were Absolom Ozbon, Daniel Wilcott, and Lewis Talon.

Between 1809 and 1820 there are various accounts with individuals who owed him for work, the use of his boy and horse, and wood or timber, for which services were sometimes exchanged. Some of the repeat customers were Ichabod Cook, Nathaniel Litchfield, and Jonathan Brown.

By 1820 the accounts are mainly for making and mending shoes and boots. The cobbler may have been one of Captain Briggs’ three sons–Billings, Paul, or James.


Information on Use
Terms of Access and Use
Restrictions on access:

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Benjamin Briggs Accounts (MS 173). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

History of the Collection

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Linda Seidman, 2003.


Additional Information

Sponsor
Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Language
English.


Subjects

Barter--Massachusetts--Scituate--19th centuryBrown, JonathanCook, IchabodDebtor and creditor--Massachusetts--Scituate--19th centuryLitchfield, NathanielOzbon, AbsalomScituate (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryShip captains--Massachusetts--Scituate--19th centuryShipping--Massachusetts--Scituate--19th centuryShoemakers--Massachusetts--Scituate--19th centuryTalon, LewisWilcott, Daniel

Contributors

Briggs, Benjamin, 1760-1834

Types of material

Account books