Ohenry Biography

O’Henry a great American writer was born and grew up in North Carolina. O’Henry was just a pen name. His real name is William Sydney Porter. After growing up in North Carolina he moved to Texas. His father was a doctor named Dr. Algemon Sidney Porter; his mother’s name was Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter. When O’Henry was about 3 years old his mother died of tuberculosis. O’ Henry had to move in with his grandmother. O’Henry loved to read as a child. Who knew this would be the beginning of a great writer.

After O’Henry moved in with his grandmother he went to middle and high school. His father’s sister tutored him. After he finished high school he went to work for his uncle at his drug store. By the time he was nineteen he was a licensed pharmacist. He would also sketch people that came in to the drugstore for entertainment.

O’Henry always had a persistent cough so he thought if he moved to Texas it would get better. He went to work on a sheep herder’s ranch, doing everything from babysitting, cook, and ranch hand. He still read all the time. He also played and sang all the time at social gatherings where he met Athol Estes. Her family was wealthy and didn’t approve of O’Henry so they eloped. They later had a baby boy who didn’t live long and then a year later had a daughter named Margaret Worth Porter around 1889.

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He became a draftsman who drew maps for the Texas land office. But he also was writing and his wife encouraged him to write. He eventually went to work for the bank but he also was working on his writing. He did not keep his books well and the bank and he was accused of embezzling money from the bank. He lost his job but there charges against him at the time. He and his family moved to Houston and he started working for the Post. The bank did finally charge O’Henry for embezzlement and as soon as he made bail he moved to New Orleans and later to Honduras. He wrote many short stories there but he missed his family. He was going to send for his wife to come but found out she was very ill with tuberculosis and was dying. He came back to Texas and surrendered. He was locked up but his father-in-law bailed him out to be with his daughter.

O’Henry’s wife died in 1897. He was found guilty of embezzlement and was sentenced to five years in prison. While O’Henry was in prison he wrote fourteen stories that were published. A friend of his would pass his stories on to publishers who had no idea that the writer was in prison. After 3 years of good behavior in prison O’Henry was released and he was able to be with his eleven year old daughter. In 1902 he and Margaret moved to New York where he did a lot of his great writing. He wrote all the time over 300 stories while in New York. He eventually married someone from his childhood from North Carolina named Sarah Coleman.

He continued to write but O’Henry was a heavy drinker and his health failed and he died of June 5, 1910, of cirrhosis of the liver. He was buried in Ashville North Carolina. O’Henry was a very well liked writer. He was known for his different surprise endings to his stories. Writings like “The Gift of Magi” “The Last Leaf” and "The Ransom of Red Chief" are read over and over again my adults as well as students today.

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