Accuracy Project

When William Sidney Porter was three, his mother died of tuberculosis, and the Porter family moved to the home of his paternal grandmother, Ruth Porter. William's grandmother and unmarried aunt, Evelina Maria Porter, would now be responsible for raising the children. William was an avid reader, and developed a lifelong love of books. Following his schooling, he began working as a bookkeeper and pharmacist's assistant at his uncle's drugstore, W.C. Porter and Company Drug Store. By 1881, he'd become a licensed pharmacist. During this period, he became known locally for the cartoons and sketches he would produce of the townspeople, while working at the store. After relocating to Texas in 1882, he held various jobs, including ranch hand, pharmacist, draftsman, journalist, and a teller in an Austin bank.

He began writing in the late 1880s, while continuing his freelance illustrating and cartooning. In 1887, he married Athol Estes. The following year she would give birth to a son, but he lived just a few hours. Their daughter Margaret was born September 30th, 1889. In 1894, he began publishing a humorous weekly called The Rolling Stone. He was working as a teller at the First National Bank of Austin during the day, and producing sketches, satire, and stories for his publication by night. As bills began mounting at The Rolling Stone, evidence shows he began altering the books at the bank so he could "borrow" funds to cover the debts. He did it with the intent of repaying the money in the future, but an audit revealed the shortages before he could reimburse the stolen money. He resigned his position with the bank in 1894 after he was accused of embezzling funds. The Rolling Stone ceased publication the next year, and he went to work for the Houston Daily Post (1895-1896).

He was arrested on charges of embezzlement in 1896. While released on bond, he skipped town, escaping to New Orleans, and then Honduras. The next year, when he learned his wife was dying, he returned to face the charges. His wife Athol died July 25th, 1897, at 6 p.m., of tuberculosis.

Porter was found guilty of embezzlement of funds from the bank and sentenced to five years in jail. He was imprisoned at the Ohio State Penitentiary beginning April 25th, 1898. He used much of his free time in jail to write, and saw several of his stories published while behind bars. He was released from prison July 24th, 1901, for good behavior, after serving a little more than three years of his five year sentence.

By early 1902, Porter was living in New York City. Over the next few years, he would turn out literally hundreds of short stories and gain fame as one of America's favorite short story writers. He would marry again in 1907 to his childhood sweetheart, Sara Lindsay Coleman. He wrote prodigiously for several years, but his output declined as his life was increasingly marred by ill health, debts, and alcoholism. Despite O. Henry's fame and enormous success as a writer, he died a poor man.

The author's pseudonym, O. Henry, allegedly originated from his habit of calling "Oh, Henry" to the family cat. Other sources report the inspiration for his pen name came from one of the prison guards who was named Orrin Henry.

In addition to his more famous works, such as, The Gift of the Magi, The Last Leaf, The Furnished Room, The Ransom of Red Chief, and A Municipal Report, his writing credits include, The Miracle of Lava Canyon (1897), Georgia's Ruling (1900), Cabbages and Kings (1904), The Four Million (1906), The Trimmed Lamp (1907), The Voice of the City (1907), Heart of the West (1907), Roads of Destiny (1909), Options (1909), Strictly Business (1910), Whirligigs (1910), Let Me Feel Your Pulse (1910), and Rolling Stones (published posthumously in 1912).

Many of his stories have been adapted into motion pictures, television series and TV-movies. The Cisco Kid was one of the most famous characters he created in The Caballero's Way from Heart of the West, his book of Western short stories. The Cisco Kid that O. Henry created, and the one that appeared years later in films and television, were significantly different characters.

Half a century after his death, new generations would become familiar with O. Henry-type endings thanks to Rod Serling's award-winning The Twilight Zone, and its use of surprise twist endings.

To memorialize his place in American literature, in 1918, the Society of Arts and Sciences established the O. Henry Award. It has gone on to become one of the most prestigious short story awards in America.