Here’s the brief story. As you know, Porter is buried here in Asheville at Riverside Cemetery.
GREENSBORO, NC — American writer William Sydney Porter, whose pen-name was O. Henry, was born in Greensboro, NC, Sept. 11, 1862. He left school at the age of 15 and in 1882 moved to Texas. In 1898 he was convicted of embezzlement, committed during his years as a bank teller in Texas, and served 3 years in the penitentiary. On release he lived briefly in Pittsburgh before settling in New York City in 1902. He lived at 55 Irving Place then moved to the Caledonia Hotel at 28 W. 26th Street; he kept that room for writing after moving to the Chelsea Hotel at 222 W. 23rd St.