William Sidney porter was born in September 11, 1862 Greensboro, North

Carolina. His pen name O. Henry, Oliver Henry. He had an American nationality.
O. Henry famous for his short stories which are known for their wit, wordplay,
and warm characterization and clever twists endings. His parents were Dr.
Algernon Sidney porter a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter. He was
always reading classic novels his favorite works were lanes One Thousand and
One Night, and Burtons Anatomy of Melanchdy.
Porter was a good singer and musician. He played both the guitar and mandolin.
When he became a member of Hill City Quartet he met with Athol Estes, she
was from wealthy family. They were married and thy continued to participate in
musical and theater groups, Athol encouraged her husband to pursue his writing.
She gave birth to a son, who died hours after birth and then a daughter Margaret
worth Porter. William started job as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office,
drawing maps from survey and field notes, but he continues his contribution to
magazines and newspapers. After that he began working at the first National
Bank of Austin as a teller and bookkeeper. The bank was operated informally and
porter was apparently careless in keeping his book and may have embezzled. He
was accused by the bank embezzlement and lost his job but was not indicted. He
then gave full time on his humorous weekly called The Rollin Stone feature on
life, people and politics and included porters short stories and sketches. When
the paper never provided an adequate income The Rolling Stone failed in April
1895.
William moved Houston with his family and started writing for the Houston Post.
He gathered ideas for his column by loitering in hotel lobbies and observing and
talking to people there. This was a technique he used throughout his writing
career. When he was in Houston, he was arrested on charges of embezzlement.
His father-in-law posted bail to keep him out of jail. He came to Honduras; he
wrote Cabbages and Kings in which he coined the term banana republic to
describe the country. Porter had sent Athol and Margaret back to Austin to live
with Athols parents. When Athol became too ill, she meets porter in Honduras.
Porter returned to Austin and surrendered to the court, pending an appeal. His
father-in-law posted bail him so he could stay with his wife and daughter.
After the death of Athol, Porter arrested. He worked in the prison hospital as the
night druggist he was licensed pharmacist. When he was in prison, his fourteen
stories published through his friend, the best known O. Henry, a pseudonym
the first appeared over the story Whistling Dicks Christmas Stocking issue of
McClures magazine. He was released for his good behavior after serving three
years.
He moved to New York City to be near his publishers. He wrote 381 short stories.
He wrote a story a week for over a year for the New York World Sunday
Magazine. O. Henrys stories considerably more playful, surprise ending and
known for witty narration. His first collection of stories was The Cabbages and
Kings and his final work was Dream a short story intended for the magazine
The Cosmopolitan but left incomplete at the time of his death. His most famous

stories are The Gift of The Magi, The Ransom of Red Chief, The Cop and The
Anthem, A Retrieved Reformation and The Duplicity of Hargreaves.
O. Henry married again with his childhood lover Sarah. He was a heavy drinker
and his healthy and writing too much affected. Sarah left him and he was
suffering from cirrhosis of the liver, diabetes and enlarged heart and he died on
June 5, 1910.