CRG
James Crosby Brown
Biography
John Crosby Brown was born in New York City on May 22, 1838, the son of James Brown and Eliza
Maria Coe. James Brown was a well known banker, founder of the family company Brown Brothers &
Co., and a great supporter of Union Theological Seminary. His interest in Union grew following the death
of several of his children when the steamship Arctic sank in 1854.

James Brown’s generosity was most obvious in an 1873 donation of $300,000, which helped establish
several professorships.
John Crosby Brown was educated privately as a child, and graduated from Columbia University in 1859. He
had intended to enter the ministry, but the loss of the family on the Arctic obliged him to join the family
business instead. He traveled following graduation, then began his work at different branches of the family
business. He became a partner at the main office in New York in 1864. In the financial world, Brown drew
the admiration of men like J.P. Morgan for his honesty. In addition to his work at Brown Brothers, he was
also involved with the boards of several other corporations, including several railroads.
Brown married Mary Elizabeth Adams in the early 1860's. This brought Brown closer to Union Theological
Seminary, as his father-in-law William Adams was also connected to the Seminary and became its president
in 1873. The Browns made their home in New York on East 37 street, and had six children; William Adams
(1865), Eliza Coe (1868), Mary Magoun (1869), James Crosby (1872), Thatcher Magoun (1876), and Amy
Brighthurst (1899). William Adams Brown was to continue the family’s involvement with Union Theological
Seminary; he became a professor and taught for over thirty years. The Browns also established a summer
home in Brighthurst,(Orange) New Jersey, where they built a sprawling forty acre estate on Orange
Mountain. Their social circle in New Jersey included civil war general and governor of New Jersey George
McClellan, and Theodore Roosevelt’s sister and brother-in-law.
In his personal life, Brown had many interests. He served on the Board of education of Orange, NJ