O. Henry

William Sydney Porter was born one of three children to a working-class family. Tragically, his mother died while giving birth when Porter was just three years old, and his extended family stepped in to help his father raise the children. By the time he was nineteen, Porter had graduated from high school and was working in his uncle’s drugstore as a licensed pharmacist. At twenty, he developed a persistent cough, and in an attempt to lessen his symptoms, moved to Texas in search of dry weather. While in Texas, Porter worked odd jobs as a ranch hand and began writing, concentrating on short stories. Luckily, his health did improve in the Texas climate, and in 1885, Porter met his future wife, Athol Estes. Porter and Estes eloped in 1887 and had one surviving child, a daughter named Margaret. To support his young family, Porter was given a job with the Texas General Land Office by a politician friend. As his job was dependent upon a political appointment, Porter was terminated when his friend was not reelected to public office. He then took a job as a teller at the First National Bank, continuing to write on the side. Meanwhile, Porter circulated a weekly satirical publication, The Rolling Stone, focusing on local stories and people; however, the magazine failed by 1895. In 1896, Porter fled to Honduras to avoid arrest after being accused of mismanaging bank funds and embezzlement, but he returned to Texas in 1897 when Estes’s health worsened. Sadly, she was dead within the year, and in 1898, Porter was convicted of embezzling $854.08 from the bank in Austin. He entered the state penitentiary in Ohio that same year and worked as a pharmacist while continuing to write, adopting his pen name, O. Henry. He was released in 1901 for good behavior and moved to New York City, where he began his most productive period of writing. While in New York, Porter wrote hundreds of short stories, including “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Ransom of Red Chief,” and “A Retrieved Reformation.” In 1907, Porter married his second wife, Sarah; however, the marriage was generally unhappy. Life proved exceedingly difficult after his release from prison, and he was plagued by considerable financial problems and alcoholism. Porter died in 1910 secondary to cirrhosis of the liver and complications of heart disease. After his death, he left behind a remarkable short story legacy. He is widely known for his humor and wit, his irony, and his surprise endings.