John Crosby Brown (May 22, 1838 – June 25, 1909) was a senior partner in the investment bank
Brown Bros. & Co., founded by his family.
Early life
Brown was born on May 22, 1838 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. He was the son of banker
James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
(1791–1877) and Eliza Maria (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Coe) Brown (1803–1890).
His father was a banker and supporter of
Union Theological Seminary and his paternal grandfather was Alexander Brown of Baltimore.
Among his extended family were uncles
George Brown George Brown may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* George Loring Brown (1814–1889), American landscape painter
* George Douglas Brown (1869–1902), Scottish novelist
* George Williams Brown (1894–1963), Canadian historian and editor
* G ...
and
Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet.
Brown was educated privately and then entered
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he graduated in 1859.
Career
Brown worked at
Brown Bros. & Co., an investment bank founded by his father and uncles.
Eventually, he became the senior partner of Brown Bros.
In 1931, Brown Bros. merged with
Harriman Brothers & Company
Harriman or Hariman (variant Herriman (disambiguation), Herriman) is a surname derived from the given name Herman (name), Herman, and in turn occurs as a placename derived from the surname in the United States.
Buildings
* Dr. O.B. Harriman House, ...
to become
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., one of the oldest and largest partnership banks in the United States.
Brown served on the
board of education of New York City, and was a trustee of Columbia University.
Personal life
On November 9, 1864, Brown was married to
Mary Elizabeth Adams in New York City. Mary was the daughter of
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
.
Together, they were the parents of six children:
*
William Adams Brown
William Adams Brown (December 29, 1865 – December 15, 1943) was an American minister, professor and philanthropist.
Early life
Brown was born in New York City on December 29, 1865, and named after his maternal grandfather, the Rev. William Ada ...
(1865–1943), who married
Helen Gilman Noyes (1867–1942). William went to
St. Paul's School in
Concord, New Hampshire
Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua.
The village of ...
. He received from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
an A.B. degree in 1886, an A.M. degree in 1888 and a Ph.D. in 1901. He graduated from Union Theological Seminary in 1890 and was ordained in the
Presbyterian Church
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
in 1893. He also studied at the
University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
from 1890 to 1892. He was a member of the
Yale Corporation
The Yale Corporation, officially The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Assembly of corporation
The Corporation comprises 19 members:
* Three ex officio
An ''ex officio'' m ...
from 1917 to 1934, and was acting president of Yale University from 1919 to 1920.
* Eliza Coe Adams (1868–1959)
* Mary Magoun Brown (1869–1962)
* James Crosby Brown (1872–1930), who married Mary Agnes Hewlett (1875–1919) in 1898. After her death, he married Aurelia Gladys Pomeroy (1883–1937) in 1923.
* Thatcher Magoun Brown (1876–1954), who married Caro Lord Noyes (1876–1947), the sister of his elder brother's wife.
* Amy Brighthurst Brown (1878–1960)
He died on June 25, 1909, in
Orange Mountain House, New Jersey and was buried at
Green-Wood Cemetery
Green-Wood Cemetery is a cemetery in the western portion of Brooklyn, New York City. The cemetery is located between South Slope/ Greenwood Heights, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, Kensington, and Sunset Park, and lies several bl ...
in Brooklyn.
Some records of John Crosby Brown are included in the Brown Brothers Harriman Collection, which is housed in
New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...
's manuscript collection.
References
Sources
West Orange History: John Crosby BrownBulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art: John Crosby Brown, Treasurer
External links
*
John Crosby Brown Papers, 1876-1909at The Burke Library Archives,
Union Theological Seminary.
''The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John Crosby
1838 births
1909 deaths
Columbia University alumni
American investment bankers
19th-century American businesspeople