Henry was the son of Mary Louise Pollock Chiapella and a descendant of the Yates/Pollock families of New York and New Orleans. The Yates/Pollock families were subjects of portraits by Gilbert Stuart, now in NGA: Mrs. Richard Yates (1940.1.4), Richard Yates (1942.8.29), Catherine Yates Pollock (1942.8.19) and George Pollock (1942.8.18).