Guilford County NcArchives Biographies.....Porter, William Sydney (O. Henry) 1862 - 1910
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Curtis L. Older curtolder@earthlink.net September 8, 2009, 3:00 pm

Source: www.cloldergen.com
Author: Curtis L. Older

Brief Biography of O'Henry
 
O. Henry (1862-1910) was a prolific American short-story writer, a 
master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people 
in New York City. A twist of plot, which turns on an ironic or 
coincidental circumstance, is typical of O. Henry's stories. 
 
William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) was born in Greensboro, North 
Carolina. His father, Algernon Sidney Porter, was a physician. When 
William was three, his mother died, and he was raised by his paternal 
grandmother and aunt. William was an avid reader, but at the age of 
fifteen he left school, and then worked in a drug store and on a Texas 
ranch. He moved to Houston, where he had a number of jobs, including 
that of bank clerk. After moving to Austin, Texas, in 1882, he married.
 
In 1884 he started a humorous weekly The Rolling Stone. When the weekly 
failed, he joined the Houston Post as a reporter and columnist. In 1897 
he was convicted of embezzling money, although there has been much 
debate over his actual guilt. In 1898 he entered a penitentiary at 
Columbus, Ohio.
 
While in prison O. Henry started to write short stories to earn money 
to support his daughter Margaret. His first work, "Whistling Dick's 
Christmas Stocking" (1899), appeared in McClure's Magazine. After doing 
three years of the five years sentence, Porter emerged from the prison 
in 1901 and changed his name to O. Henry.
 
O. Henry moved to New York City in 1902 and from December 1903 to 
January 1906 he wrote a story a week for the New York World, also 
publishing in other magazines. Henry's first collection, Cabbages And 
Kings appeared in 1904. The second, The Four Million, was published two 
years later and included his well-known stories "The Gift of the Magi" 
and "The Furnished Room". The Trimmed Lamp (1907) included "The Last 
Leaf". Henry's best known work is perhaps the much anthologized "The 
Ransom of Red Chief", included in the collection Whirligigs (1910). The 
Heart Of The West (1907) presented tales of the Texas range. O. Henry 
published 10 collections and over 600 short stories during his 
lifetime.
 
O. Henry's last years were shadowed by alcoholism, ill health, and 
financial problems. He married Sara Lindsay Coleman in 1907, but the 
marriage was not happy, and they separated a year later. O. Henry died 
of cirrhosis of the liver on June 5, 1910, in New York. Three more 
collections, Sixes And Sevens (1911), Rolling Stones (1912) and Waifs 
And Strays (1917), appeared posthumously. 
 
The above biography is copyrighted. Do not republish it without 
permission. 
 
Also see: 
 
O'Henry Biography by C. Alphonso Smith, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1916

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