State

О. Henry In North Carolina There have been many misconceptions about the noted author and liis works. The following article will set you straight about some of these. THERE seem to be some strange misconceptions concerning 0. Henry and his stories. Out¬ side the state, at least. O. Henry is recognized as one of North Caro¬ lina’s most noted authors. Surely the important facts about his life and some information concerning his stories should be familiar to North Carolina readers. Most people undoubtedly know that O. Henry is the pen name of William Sidney Porter who was born on West Market Street. Greensboro. September 11, 1862; he died June 5. 1910 in New York City; and is buried in Riverside Cemetery. Asheville. Few. per¬ haps. realize that practically every item of this simple statement has been the subject of controversy — the spelling of the middle name Sidney, the year of O. Henry's birth, the exact spot of his birth place — not to mention the many stories concerning the origin of the pseudonym. (We will not con¬ sider debatable, of course, the use of the apostrophe instead of the period in the spelling of O. Henry.) The Porter family Bible, in the section marked Births has the fol¬ lowing entries: Shirley Worth Porter, Aug. 6, 1860. William Sidney Porter. Sept. 11. 1862. David Weir Porter, Mar. 26, 1865. So although O. Henry’s birth is given all the way from 1861 to 1867, and his middle name is spelled Sydney in prominent places, the family Bible settles the question of O. Henry’s birth as being 1862. and the original spell¬ ing of his middle name as Sidney. In regard to the spot of O. Henry’s birth place, about which there has been some discussion, the late Mr. Shirley Porter, older brother of O. Henry, wrote me that O. Henry was born at the old Porter home which stood on West Market Street where the Masonic Temple now stands. A marker, on the left side of the entrance has the inscription, "At this site O. Henry, Will Porter, was born. Sept. 11. 1862." By СЛТНЬЕЕ* PIKE There, in the Porter home. Will lived for the first twenty years of his life. When he was only a few years old. death claimed the younger brother. David Weir, and also O. Henry’s mother. Mary Vir¬ ginia Swaim Porter. According to Mr. Shirley Porter, the family, consisting of Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter, his two sons, Shirley Worth and William Sidney, lived with O. Henry's grandmother, Mrs. Ruth Worth Porter and her daughter Miss Evelina better known as Miss Lina, who for many years con¬ ducted a private school in her home. At the age of fifteen, how¬ ever, young Will Porter stopped school and went to work for his uncle. Mr. Clark Porter, in his drugstore on South Elm Street, the present site of the Mann O. Henry Drugstore. Here O. Henry worked for five years. The drugstore, ac¬ cording to contemporaries of O. Henry, was a favorite gathering place for men of the town. O. Henry learned pharmacy and listened to many a good story. Ac¬ cording to the records of the North Carolina Pharmaceutical Associa¬ tion, W. S. Porter (O. Henry) be¬ came a member of that organiza¬ tion. and thus became a registered pharmacist. Aug. 30. 1881. In the spring of 1882. with Dr. and Mrs. J. K. Hall, O. Henry left Greensboro for Texas. Except for a brief visit to Greensboro with his young wife, the former Athol Estes of Austin, and their infant daughter, Margaret Worth, in 1888. O. Henry did not return to North Carolina till 1907. In the meantime his wife had died. 1898; O. Henry had suffered humiliation in the bank affair in Austin; and later in New York he had achieved success as a writer of short stories. Married a Second Time In 1907 O. Henry came to Ashe¬ ville to marry Miss Sara Coleman whom he had known during his youth in Greensboro. After a brief honeymoon at Hot Springs. North Carolina, the Porters lived in New York where O. Henry was doing a regular job of writing for publi¬ cations of the day. Several months of the last year of O. Henry’s life, however, wore spent in North Carolina. His health was bad. and on a doctor's advice, he came to Asheville in October of 1909. Most of the time he spent at the home of his wife near Weaverville, which he describes in his story. "Let me feel your Pulse.” He also had an office, however, over a store on Patton Avenue; where on account of his ill health, he was able to do little work, as letters of that time testify. O. Henry left Ashe¬ ville in April 1910 to return to New York to work. He lived only till June 5 of that year. His body was brought to Asheville for burial. In Riverside Cemetery his grave is marked by a plain slab with the simple inscription, 1862 William Sydney Porter 1910 Recently a statement — often made — appeared in The State to the effect that only one of O. Henry’s short stories deals with North Carolina. If anyone familiar with North Carolina reads all of O. Henry's two hundred and fifty- six stories, I believe he will find many indications of the influence of O. Henry’s native state in his writings. Most people probably arc fa¬ miliar with a few favorite stories which often appear in O. Henry collections or in anthologies. It happens that the setting of most of these is New York. It is true that many of O. Henry's best stories are of New York, but not all of them. There are ten or more stories of the Old South. O. Henry does not call the places North Carolina, but in some stories the background is very evident; in others it is merely suggested. But to one familiar with the author's background, the evidence is reveal¬ ing and unmistakable. In his stories, except for those of Texas and New Orleans, the South to O. Henry, meant North Carolina. Besides these stories of the old ( Continued on jtage 23) THE STATE. August 17. 1946 9