Where did the Whitecloud family live?

While we certainly don't have a complete picture of where Benjamin, Mary and their family lived and when, we do have some clues from his written biography, historical documents, and the letters he received while preaching. From tax lists, census documents and city directories, I will here trace the family from 1859 right up to the Chicago city directory in 1890.

This first map shows a possible progression of Benjamin from his birthplace in Alabama (where his father Abraham lived) to the Cherokee Nation in Arkansas Territory, to upper New York just south of Lake Ontario, to Dowagiac, Michigan where he obtained a medical license and he and his wife had their first 2 children, to Chicago where their son Benjamin was born, to Deerfield, IL where he died.

---

Benjamin obtained this LICENSE TO PREACH on Feb, 9, 1859 in the Cherokee Nation Arkansas Territory. He received his Ordination Papers on June 23, 1859 in Arkansas Territory, too.

---

On June 8, 1860, he was in the state of New York, where he received a letter of reference from a man named Ezra McInty(sp?). On August 13, 1860 he received another one of these letters from Pastor S. D. Phelps of the First Baptist Church of New Haven, New York.

---

Subsequent letters are from Clyde, NY on October 10, 1861; Lyons, NY on November 11, 1861; and Port Gibson, NY on January 14, 1862. This map shows the area north of the Finger Lakes and south of Lake Ontario in upstate New York where all of these letters are from.

---

Benjamin was in Port Gibson, NY in January of 1862, and on the tax rolls in Kalamazoo, Michigan in December1863. His son Abraham and daughter Hattie have both been listed in later census files as having been born in Michigan. Cass County, Michigan has a rich history. Here is a newspaper from Cass County in 1863.  http://discovercasscounty.com/historic-public-structures/


Benjamin is listed as living in Kalamazoo, Michigan in this December 1863 Tax Roll from Michigan.

---

Benjamin is in the 1865 Tax list in Dowagiac, Michigan where he is listed as a physician. We know his children Abraham and Hattie were already born by then, both being born in Michigan.  His son Benjamin was born in Chicago in 1865, this same year.  So we can assume he moved to Chicago in 1865. (He is listed toward the bottom)

---

Benjamin is listed in the Chicago Business City Directory in 1866 as a physician with an office at 131 E. Adams.

---

Benjamin is listed in the Chicago City Directory in 1867 living at 259 21st Street.

---

Benjamin is listed in the Chicago City Directory in 1869, a year before his death.

Name: Benjamin M Whitecloud
Residence Year: 1869
Street address: 99 Butterfield
Residence Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Occupation: Physician
Publication Title: Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1869

Benjamin died in April 1870 in Deerfield, IL.  He is listed here in the 1870 census.


The rest of the family is listed as living in Deerfield, IL in the same census. For some reason, Mary is listed as Louisa Mordecai. It is here we first see Mary's birthplace listed as New York. Abraham, Hattie and Benjamin Jr. are all listed as well, all under the name Mordecai.

For more census entries, click here.