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Unit 6: After Twenty Years by O. Henry

Porter and his family moved to Houston in 1895, where he started writing for the Post. His Notes
salary was only $25 a month, but it rose steadily as his popularity increased. Porter 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.
While he was in Houston, the First National Bank of Austin was audited by federal auditors
and they found the embezzlement shortages that had led to his firing. A federal indictment
followed and he was arrested on charges of embezzlement.

Porter’s father-in-law posted bail to keep Porter out of jail, but the day before Porter was due
to stand trial on July 7, 1896, he fled, first to New Orleans and later to Honduras. While holed
up in a Trujillo hotel for several months, he wrote Cabbages and Kings, in which he coined
the term “banana republic” to describe the country, subsequently used to describe almost any
small, unstable tropical nation in Latin America. Porter had sent Athol and Margaret back to
Austin to live with Athol’s parents. Unfortunately, Athol became too ill to meet Porter in
Honduras as Porter had planned. When he learned that his wife was dying, Porter returned
to Austin in February 1897 and surrendered to the court, pending an appeal. Once again,
Porter’s father-in-law posted bail so Porter could stay with Athol and Margaret.
Athol Estes Porter died on July 25, 1897, from tuberculosis (then known as consumption).
Porter, having little to say in his own defense, was found guilty of embezzlement in February
1898, sentenced to five years in prison, and imprisoned on March 25, 1898, as federal prisoner
30664 at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio. While in prison, Porter, as a licensed
pharmacist, worked in the prison hospital as the night druggist. Porter was given his own
room in the hospital wing, and there is no record that he actually spent time in the cell block
of the prison. He had fourteen stories published under various pseudonyms while he was in
prison, but was becoming best known as “O. Henry”, a pseudonym that first appeared over
the story “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking” in the December 1899 issue of McClure’s
Magazine. A friend of his in New Orleans would forward his stories to publishers, so they had
no idea the writer was imprisoned. Porter was released on July 24, 1901, for good behaviour
after serving three years. Porter reunited with his daughter Margaret, now age 11, in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, where Athol’s parents had moved after Porter’s conviction. Margaret was never
told that her father had been in prison—just that he had been away on business.

Later life

Porter’s most prolific writing period started in 1902, when he moved to New York City to be
near his publishers. While there, he wrote 381 short stories. He wrote a story a week for over
a year for the New York World Sunday Magazine. His wit, characterization, and plot twists were
adored by his readers, but often panned by critics. Porter married again in 1907, to childhood
sweetheart Sarah (Sallie) Lindsey Coleman, whom he met again after revisiting his native state
of North Carolina.
Porter was a heavy drinker, and his health deteriorated markedly in 1908, which affected his
writing. In 1909, Sarah left him, and he died on June 5, 1910, of cirrhosis of liver, complications
of diabetes, and an enlarged heart. After funeral services in New York City, he was buried in
the Riverside Cemetery in Asheville, North Carolina. His daughter, Margaret Worth Porter,
who died in 1927, was buried next to her father.

Stories

Portrait of Porter from frontispiece in his collection of short stories Waifs and Strays
O. Henry’s stories frequently have surprise endings. In his day, he was called the American
answer to Guy de Maupassant. Both authors wrote plot twist endings, but O. Henry stories
were much more playful. His stories are also known for witty narration.

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