William Sydney Porter
(1862-1910)
Who Was William Sydney Porter?
William Sydney Porter, writing as O. Henry, was an American short story writer. He wrote in a dry, humorous style and, as in his popular story "The Gift of the Magi," often ironically used coincidences and surprise endings. After he was released from prison in 1902, Porter went to New York, his home and the setting of most of his fiction for the remainder of his life. Writing prodigiously, he went on to become a revered American writer.
Born William Sydney Porter, on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The American short-story writer pioneered in picturing the lives of lower-class and middle-class New Yorkers.
Porter attended school for a short time, then clerked in an uncle's drugstore. At the age of 20, Porter went to Texas, working first on a ranch and later as a bank teller. In 1887, he married Athol Estes and began to write freelance sketches. A few years later he founded a humorous weekly, The Rolling Stone . When the publication failed, he became a reporter and columnist on the Houston Post .
O. Henry Short Stories and Books
Indicted in 1896 for embezzling bank funds (actually a result of technical mismanagement), Porter fled to a reporting job in New Orleans, then to Honduras. When news of his wife's serious illness reached him, he returned to Texas. After her death, 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).
Released from prison in 1902, Porter went to New York City, his home and the setting of most of his fiction for the remainder of his life. Writing prodigiously under the pen name O. Henry, he completed one story a week for a newspaper, in addition to other stories for magazines. Popular collections of his stories included The Four Million (1906); Heart of the West and The Trimmed Lamp (both 1907); The Gentle Grafter and The Voice of the City (both 1908); Options (1909); and Whirligigs and Strictly Business (both 1910).
O. Henry's most representative collection was probably The Four Million . The title and the stories answered the snobbish claim of socialite Ward McAllister that only 400 people in New York "were really worth noticing" by detailing events in the lives of everyday Manhattanites. In his most famous story, "The Gift of the Magi," a poverty-stricken New York couple secretly sell valued possessions to buy one another Christmas gifts. Ironically, the wife sells her hair so that she can buy her husband a watch chain, while he sells his watch so that he can buy her a pair of combs.
Incapable of integrating a book-length narrative, O. Henry was skilled in plotting short ones. He wrote in a dry, humorous style and, as in "The Gift of the Magi," frequently used coincidences and surprise endings to underline ironies. Even after O. Henry's death on June 5, 1910, stories continued to be collected: Sixes and Sevens (1911); Rolling Stones (1912); Waifs and Strays (1917); O. Henryana (1920); Letters to Lithopolis (1922); Postscripts (1923); and O. Henry Encore (1939).
QUICK FACTS
- Name: William Sydney Porter
- Birth Year: 1862
- Birth date: September 11, 1862
- Birth State: North Carolina
- Birth City: Greensboro
- Birth Country: United States
- Gender: Male
- Best Known For: William Sydney Porter was a prolific short story writer whose work appeared under the name O. Henry.
- Fiction and Poetry
- Astrological Sign: Virgo
- Death Year: 1910
- Death date: June 5, 1910
- Death State: New York
- Death City: New York
- Death Country: United States
CITATION INFORMATION
- Article Title: William Sydney Porter Biography
- Author: Biography.com Editors
- Website Name: The Biography.com website
- Url: https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/william-sydney-porter
- Access Date:
- Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
- Last Updated: March 26, 2021
- Original Published Date: April 2, 2014
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Famous short-story writer O. Henry was born William Sydney Porter on Sept. 11, 1862, in Greensboro, N.C. His father, Algernon Sidney Porter, was a physician. His mother, Mrs. Algernon Sidney Porter (Mary Virginia Swaim), died from consumption when O. Henry was just three years old, so he was raised by his paternal grandmother and his aunt.
Early Years and Education
O. Henry attended the private elementary school of his aunt, Evelina Porter ("Miss Lina"), starting in 1867. He then went to Linsey Street High School in Greensboro, but he left school at the age of 15 to work as a bookkeeper for his uncle at W. C. Porter and Company Drug Store. As a result, O. Henry was largely self-taught. Being an avid reader helped.
Marriage, Career, and Scandal
O. Henry worked a number of different jobs, including as a ranch hand in Texas, licensed pharmacist, draftsman, bank clerk, and columnist. And in 1887, O. Henry married Athol Estes, stepdaughter of Mr. P. G. Roach.
His most notorious occupation was as a bank clerk for the First National Bank of Austin. He resigned from his job in 1894 after he was accused of embezzling funds. In 1896, he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. He posted bail, skipped town, and finally returned in 1897 when he learned that his wife was dying. Athol died on July 25, 1897, leaving him one daughter, Margaret Worth Porter (born in 1889).
After O. Henry served his time in prison, he married Sarah Lindsey Coleman in Asheville, N.C. in 1907. She had been his childhood sweetheart. They separated the following year.
The Gift of the Magi
Short story " The Gift of the Magi " is one of O. Henry's most famous works. It was published in 1905 and chronicles a cash-strapped couple tasked with buying Christmas presents for each other. Below are some of the key quotes from the story.
- "One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas."
- "There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating."
- "The magi, as you know, were wise men —wonderfully wise men —who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones."
Blind Man's Holiday
" Blind Man's Holiday " was published in the short story collection Whirligigs in 1910. Below is a memorable passage from the work:
- "Man is too thoroughly an egoist not to be also an egotist; if he love, the object shall know it. During a lifetime he may conceal it through stress of expediency and honour, but it shall bubble from his dying lips, though it disrupt a neighbourhood. It is known, however, that most men do not wait so long to disclose their passion. In the case of Lorison, his particular ethics positively forbade him to declare his sentiments, but he must needs dally with the subject..."
In addition to this passage, here are key quotes from O. Henry's other works:
- "He wrote love stories, a thing I have always kept free from, holding the belief that the well-known and popular sentiment is not properly matter for publication, but something to be privately handled by the alienist and the florist." - "The Plutonian Fire"
- "It was beautiful and simple as all truly great swindles are." - "The Octopus Marooned"
O. Henry died a poor man on June 5, 1910. Alcoholism and ill health are believed to have been factors in his death. The cause of his death is listed as cirrhosis of the liver.
Funeral services were held at a church in New York City, and he was buried in Asheville. His last words are said to have been: "Turn up the lights —I don't want to go home in the dark."
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The O. Henry House has been the site of the O. Henry Pun-Off, an annual spoken word competition inspired by Porter's love of language, since 1978. ( Dr. Samuel E. Gideon , a historical architect and professor at the University of Texas at Austin , was a strong advocate for the saving of the O. Henry House in Austin.)
William Sydney Porter, writing as O. Henry, was an American short story writer. He wrote in a dry, humorous style and, as in his popular story "The Gift of the Magi," often ironically used ...
Famous short-story writer O. Henry was born William Sydney Porter on Sept. 11, 1862, in Greensboro, N.C. His father, Algernon Sidney Porter, was a physician. His mother, Mrs. Algernon Sidney Porter (Mary Virginia Swaim), died from consumption when O. Henry was just three years old, so he was raised by his paternal grandmother and his aunt.