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Birth
He was born September 11, 1862 in North Carolina, where he spent his childhood. -
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Lifetime
Mayor events in his life. -
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Early years
His father, Algernon Sidney Porter, was a medical doctor. When William was three his mother, Mary Jane Virginia Swaim died and he was raised by his grandmother and aunt. -
Schooling
Until age fifteen Will attended his Aunt Lina's school. This was his only formal education, and under the tutelage of his aunt, Evelina Maria Porter, he developed his lifelong love of books. Porter was known as a cartoonist during his early years in Greensboro. -
His first job
When he began working at his Uncle Clark's pharmacy, he often sketched the townspeople and by 1881 he was licensed as a pharmacist. -
His life in Texas
At the age of twenty, Porter came to Texas primarily for health reasons, and worked on a sheep ranch and lived with the family of Richard M. Hall, whose family had close ties with the Porter family back in North Carolina. It was here that Porter gained a knowledge for ranch life that he later described in many of his short stories. -
Couple and children
In 1887, William eloped with Athol Estes, and they would later have a son who died shortly after birth. However, in 1889 the couple had a daughter, Margaret, but Athol’s health worsened drastically after Margaret’s birth. -
His job as a draftsman at the GLO.
in September 1889. Porter's friend Richard Hall became Texas Land Commissioner and offered Porter a job. Porter started as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office (GLO) in 1887 at a salary of $100 a month, drawing maps from surveys and field notes. The salary was enough to support his family, but he continued his contributions to magazines and newspapers.
Porter as a clerk at the First National Bank, Austin In the GLO building, he began developing characters and plots for such -
His Job as a bank teller.
In 1891 he began work as a bank teller with the First National Bank. The Porter's were living in the house which is now known as the O Henry House Museum. -
His job as a columnist.
He moved again to Houston, Texas in 1895 and became a newspaper columnist. -
Indictment
In 1896, however, he was called back to Austin, where he was charged with embezzling money from the bank where he had worked. Not wanting to go to prison for his crime, O. Henry fled to Honduras, and stayed there for six months before returning to the United States. In Honduras, William became friends with Al Jennings, a notorious train robber, who later wrote a book about their friendship. -
Her wife's death and his imprisonment
When news of his wife's serious illness reached him, he returned to Texas.Athol Estes Porter died from tuberculosis on July 25, 1897. After her death ,William Sydney Porter was imprisoned in Columbus, Ohio. During his three-year incarceration, he wrote adventure stories set in Texas and Central America that quickly became popular and were collected in Cabbages and Kings (1904). -
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Literary career
He wrote over 600 stories in his short writing career. He popularized the "twist ending" and is called the American DeMaupassant.Main features in his short stories: Surprise ending, witty comments, puns, word play, vocabulary ,setting and values. -
Released from prison
Will served three years of his sentence and was released for good behavior in 1902. He began writing stories on a more regular basis, and moved to New York to be closer to his editors. It was during this time that Will adopted the pen name “O. Henry” which he would use for the rest of his career. -
His next couple and unhappy marriage.
In 1905, Will was reacquainted with Sara Lindsay Coleman, a childhood sweetheart originally from Weaverville, North Carolina. They married two years later in Asheville, North Carolina, but the marriage was not a happy one. Will found it difficult to change his bachelor ways and spent much of his married life drinking and struggling to finance his expensive tastes. In 1909, Sara returned to her parent’s home in Asheville. -
His illness
Without his wife, Will’s health began degrading. Decades of drinking and overeating left him with diabetes, an enlarged heart, and failing kidneys. He visited Asheville in the summer of 1909, a dying man. Sara helped him sober up and slowly his health began improving. By the end of the year, he was able to return to New York and his writing, but also to his bad habits. -
His death at 47.
On June 3, 1910, Will was rushed to the hospital after suddenly collapsing. Two days later, he turned to a nurse in his hospital room and said “Turn up the lights. I don’t want to go home in the dark.” With those famous last words, he passed away. He was 47 years old. He died of cirrhosis of the liver, complications of diabetes, and an enlarged heart.He is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina.Henry followers often visit Riverside Cemetery, leaving $1.87 at his grave.
