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Then word reached Porter that his beloved wife was dying, seriously ill from tuberculosis. Porter chose to return to Texas and accept his fate. Athol died in July, 1897. A year later Porter was found guilty of embezzling the sum of $854.08, and he was sentenced to five years in prison. Serving his time in a Columbus, Ohio Penitentiary, Porter worked as a prison pharmacist. He first began using the name O. Henry for stories he wrote while he was an inmate.
Three years later, Porter was released early for good behavior. Even after his reunion with 11-year-old Margret, Porter chose not to tell his daughter he’d been in prison. Instead, the girl believed the story her grandparents had told her, that her father had been away on business. In the years following his release, Porter moved with Margret to New York City and began the most productive period of his life, writing and publishing many classic short stories, still widely read to this day.
