Clarke died in 1849 after being stricken with
cholera. Caroline Palmer Clarke lived until 1860 and it was during this time that the house was known as the "Widow Clarke's House". After her husband's death, Caroline Clarke established "Clarke's addition to Chicago" by selling all but of the original land that went with the house. She used this money to support her family and renovate her house, adding an elaborate back portico with Doric columns, much like the original portico facing the lake. The new porch faced the newly gaslit Michigan Avenue. At the same time, she added an Italianate cupola and decorated her dining room and front parlor, which remained unfinished from the time of the family's financial setbacks. In 1871 John Chrimes, a prominent Chicago tailor, purchased the house and moved it farther south to 45th Street and Wabash Avenue into what was then the township of Hyde Park. When the house was being moved, a packet of papers was discovered that Clarke had apparently buried when building the house. The packet contained a memorial to President
Martin van Buren recommending Henry Clarke for a job, tax receipts, newspapers of the day, and a statement in Henry Clarke's handwriting, stating, "I, Henry B. Clarke, am an ardent Democrat." In the 20th century, the building came into the hands of the St. Paul Church of God in Christ. As the parsonage and community hall of this church, the Clarke House was the working home of Bishop Louis Henry Ford, the man for whom the
Bishop Ford Freeway would later be named. Ford did much to preserve and repair the structure, and worked to bring its history to the attention of the city. ==Another move==