Brown was educated privately and then entered
Columbia University, where he graduated in 1859.[4]
Career
Brown worked at
Brown Bros. & Co., an investment bank founded by his father and uncles.[5] Eventually, he became the senior partner of Brown Bros.[4] In 1931, Brown Bros. merged with
Harriman Brothers & Company to become
Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., one of the oldest and largest partnership banks in the United States.
On November 9, 1864, Brown was married to
Mary Elizabeth Adams in New York City. Mary was the daughter of
John Adams.[6] Together, they were the parents of six children:[1]
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.
Some records of John Crosby Brown are included in the Brown Brothers Harriman Collection, which is housed in
New-York Historical Society's manuscript collection.