William Adams (1807-1880) was pastor of Central Presbyterian Church in New York City when he helped found the Union Theological Seminary. He was president of the Seminary from 1874 to 1880. His son-in-law, John Crosby Brown (1838-1909), was a banker who was also on the board of the Seminary, becoming president in 1897. Brown's oldest son, William Adams Brown (1865-1943), was a Presbyterian minister who taught theology at the Seminary from 1892 to 1936. He served as acting president of Yale University from 1919 to 1920.
From the guide to the Brown-Gilman family papers, 1862-1937, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)