Henry Honoré

Henry Hamilton Honoré was born on February 19, 1824, in Louisville, Kentucky. His parents were Francis Honoré (1792–1851) and Matilda D. (née Lockwood) Honoré (1803–1849). He had several siblings, including Mary Ann Honoré, Benjamin Lockwood Honoré, and Francis Leonidis Honoré. His paternal grandfather, Jean Antoine Honoré, was born in Paris, France, and belonged to an aristocratic family. Jean Antoine Honoré emigrated to America in 1781, established himself as a merchant in Kentucky, and was known to have been acquainted with Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.

In 1855, Honoré relocated from Louisville to Chicago. There, he engaged in real estate development and accumulated his wealth through land transactions. He played a significant role in assembling lots along Dearborn Street, contributing to the development of Chicago's office and commercial districts. The street Honore Street (1832W) in Chicago is named in his honor. The Honoré Building, located at Adams and Dearborn Streets in downtown Chicago, was one of his notable developments; however, it was destroyed during the Great Chicago Fire.

In his personal life, Henry Honoré married Eliza Jane Carr in 1846. She was born in 1825 and died in 1906. She was the daughter of Captain John Carr. Together, they had six children: Adrian Carr Honoré (1847–1926), Bertha "Cissie" Honoré (1849–1918), Ida Marie Honoré (1854–1930), Nathaniel Kingston Honoré (1855–1920), Lockwood Honoré (1865–1917), and one additional child not named in the provided information.

Bertha Honoré married Potter Palmer, a prominent real estate developer, in 1871. Ida Marie Honoré married General Frederick Dent Grant, son of President Ulysses S. Grant, in Chicago in 1874. Through his daughter Ida Marie, Honoré was a grandfather to Julia Dent Cantacuzène Spiransky-Grant, also known as Princess Cantacuzène. She was an American writer who documented the Russian Revolution from her personal experience.

Henry Hamilton Honoré died in Chicago on August 16, 1916, at the age of 93.