Henry Honoré

Who was Henry Honoré?

Henry Hamilton Honoré was an American businessman.

Honoré moved to Chicago, Illinois, from Louisville, Kentucky in 1855 and made his fortune in real estate. Henry Honoré fathered six children with his wife, Eliza J. Carr: Adrian C., Bertha, Henry, Nathaniel, Ida, and Lockwood.

Honoré's daughter, Bertha, married millionaire real estate developer Potter Palmer in 1871, shortly before the Great Chicago Fire destroyed the Honoré Building at Adams and Dearborn in downtown Chicago.

Another daughter, Ida Marie Honoré, married General Frederick Dent Grant, son of President Ulysses S. Grant, in Chicago in 1874. Through this marriage, Honoré became the grandfather of American writer Julia Dent Cantacuzène Spiransky-Grant, also known as Princess Cantacuzène, who chronicled the Russian Revolution from a first-person perspective.

Honoré was responsible for the assemblage of lots and acreage along Dearborn Street, creating an office and commercial district. Honore St. in Chicago is named after him.