O. Henry O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. His stories are known for their surprise endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825–88), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833–65). William's parents had married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died after birthing her third child, and he and his
William Archer Porter John Guthrie Tait, Frederick Guthrie Tait and William Archer Porter Tait. William Archer Porter William Archer Porter (c. 1825 - d. 16 July 1890) was a British lawyer and educationist who served as the Principal of Government Arts College, Kumbakonam and tutor and secretary to the Maharaja of Mysore. Porter was born in Drumlee, Castlewellan, Co. Down , Ireland in the year 1825, the eldest son of Rev. James Porter, Presbyterian Minister, and the brother of (1) James Porter (Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge), (2) Jane Bailie Porter, who married Alexander Crum Brown, the Scottish organic chemist and (3) Margaret Archer