Do You Know O. Henry

William Sydney Porter or O Henry was an American short stories writer. He was born and raised in North Carolina in 11 September 1862. He contributed lots of short stories in the American literature.  His father was known as the best doctor in the district and his mother was died for tuberculosis when he was at the age of twelve. William and his brother Shirley were raised by their aunt Lina who was an elementary schoolteacher who inspired William to read more books.

            Unfortunately, O Henry left school at the age of fifteen and worked as a pharmacist his uncle’s drugstore. Four years of working in his uncle’s drugstore O Henry moved to Texas in which he thought he would encounter a nicer and comfortable life. He got a new job with a fair amount of money. Later, his friends found a job for him. He worked at a Bank.  However, He was accused that he stole money and he lost his job. He married Athol Estes but after their first son was died about several hours after his birth. Nine years later his wife was died and left with him his daughter Margret.

            In 1894 he started publishing lots of exciting articles about German Community in Texas. After a year he found another job which was to write for Houston Post. He moved to New Orleans in Louisiana and then Honduras to start a new life.  It did not work out and he came back to Austin to take care of his sick wife. He stayed with his wife in several months. He spent his time writing stories. After couple months he went to trial.

            Even though O Henry was an innocent man the jury convicted him, and he was sentenced five years in Prison. The Jail was called Ohio State Penitentiary and they let him work in prison at nights as a pharmacist which gave him plenty of time to write stories but he lost his wife, job, home and his name. He passed his collection of stories to his friends in Louisiana. He was finally got out from the jail. He stayed with Athol’s family in Pennsylvania with his eleven year old daughter.

              O Henry was the man of his time. I enjoy reading his humorous stories. At a young age he lost his parents and later friends but he never gave up and became one of the best American writers.  There are different opinions where he got his name and what the O stands for. Some people say he got it from a pharmacist who was called Etienne Ossian Henry whereas a chairman of the Ohio Penitentiary said that Orrin Henry was a captain in the prison. Nevertheless, he had a wonderful life and one of the most successful writers. In ten years he collected over a hundred fifty stories.

SOURCE: The 19^th Century