JOHN CROSBY BROWN 

The progress of several centuries have all but eroded away any evidence of the first settlers to the Orange Mountains. For clarification the ridges of the first and second mountain of the Watchung Mountain Range encompassing West Orange are known as the Orange Mountains. These were known as the Newark Mountains to the early settlers dating back to at least 1782. One by one landmarks of that time have faded into oblivion and became extinct. Old colonial homes, ponds, brooks, paths and the like have all passed away without any formal eulogy. Few if any have been marked or designated in any manner for the benefit of future generations. But two priceless treasures survive today and wait to be rediscovered and assume their rightful place in this towns glorious past. Both neatly tucked away, perhaps unnoticed and not understood, but they bear silent witness like a centurion standing watch over West Orange history.

In the seventeenth century a small collection of hamlets we know today as The Oranges was then known as "The Mountain Society". These settlements had moved westward from the banks of the Passaic River in Newark shortly after 1666 into the outlying areas of current day Essex County. Early roads and paths primarily made this migration possible. Two of them passed through current day West Orange. One was known as the Swinefield road until 1832 when it was renamed Washington Street and Eagle Rock Avenue. The other route was known as the Christians Path. It was a path by which those from the Newark colony traveled over the mountain to settle in the fertile western farmlands. Here agricultural interests could be pursued with favorable outcome. This path was an old Indian trail also used by the settlers to attend weekly religious services at the old meeting house. This was the forerunner of The First Presbyterian Church of Orange and was once located just east of what is now Day Street in Orange. Every Sunday morning all that were able to travel would trudge down the mountain over the Christian Path on their way to worship services. They came by foot some walking from as far away as Caldwell then known as Horse Neck. The path was gradually widened by continuous usage and eventually able to accommodate ox carts. The journey could present hardships and take upwards of several hours. Legend has it that in order to save shoe leather the trip was often made barefooted until reaching Northfield Avenue on the final approach to Orange.

The route passed through West Orange along the ridge of the first mountain on a path (no longer accessible) paralleling Prospect Avenue before connecting with Northfield Avenue. In the 1870s John Crosby Brown, a prominent NY banker, owned a sprawling estate on the mountain ridge overlooking the Orange Valley named "Brighthurst". Mr. Brown was active in the St. Cloud Presbyterian Church which was founded in 1877. Upon realizing that the Christian Path came through his property he decided to erect a memorial to the early settlers who had passed this way. In 1878 on his property he erected the Pilgrim Cross along side the old route. Even at that time the Christians Path was slowly fading from memory. If not for John Crosby Brown we might not know it’s story today. On the stone cross was inscribed " The Christian Path" and on it’s base a plaque with the following phrase: " The Christian Path - The Christian Pilgrims who this pathway trod, are now in Heaven and walk with God (1878)"

John Crosby Brown was a generous man and several years later in about 1900 he constructed a spring house for weary travelers. It was a watering hole on his property bordering on Northfield Avenue in the old Spottiswoode Quarry. A plaque at the spring house read : "Stay weary traveler rest awhile, no banquet this nor merry feast. But here will flow at thy desire pure water for both man and beast" This plaque still exists on Northfield Avenue at the site of the old spring house sitting between two modern houses on the north side of Northfield Avenue just slightly below Prospect Avenue. The Pilgrim Cross also survives but was moved from it’s original location on Crosby’s property at Brighthurst which is now long gone. It proudly stands today at the entrance to the St. Cloud Presbyterian Church. They are forgotten treasures with a direct link to the last century that both sat along one of the earliest traveled routes through West Orange.