Ancestry of
O. Henry

Short Story Writer

Algernon Sidney Porter

View famous kin of Algernon Sidney Porter

• • Father of O. Henry — 2nd Generation
  • Ahnentafel No:
  • 2 
  • Father:
  • Sidney Porter 
  • Mother:
  • Ruth Coffin Worth   
  • Birth Date:
  • 22 Aug 1825 
  • Birth Location:
  • Guilford County, North Carolina 
  • Christening Date:
  •  
  • Christening Location:
  •  
  • Death Date:
  • 29 Sep 1888 
  • Death Location:
  • Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina  
  • Burial Date:
  •  
  • Burial Location:
  • First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina 
  • Spouse Name:
  • Mary Jane Virginia Swaim
  • Marriage Date:
  • 15 Apr 1858 
  • Marriage Location:
  • Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina 
  • Children:
  
  

  Shirley Worth "Shell" Porter

  William Sydney Porter (Ahnentafel No:1 )

  David Weir Porter

  • Notes: 

  • Algernon Sidney Porter's gravestone is inscribed with an incorrect death date of 20 SEP 1889. His obituary in multiple newspapers make it clear that he died 29 SEP 1888 and that his funeral took place 01 OCT 1888.

• Sources for Algernon Sidney Porter

  • ¹ Family Tree for Family of Sidney Porter and Ruth Coffin Worth, (original in the possession of Kathy Russell-Regan, descendant of Sidney's brother Romanta, OCT 2021).
  • ² Federal Census, NC, Guilford County, 1880, Greensboro, E.D. 127, p. 38, Image 37 of 42.
  • ³ Federal Census, NC, Guilford County, 1870, Morehead, p. 5, Image 29 of 48.
  • ⁴ Federal Census, NC, Guilford County, 1850, Northern Division, Image 2 of 157.
  • ⁵ Gravestone image at FindAGrave.com, (accessed 05/08/2020).
  • ⁶ Greensboro Record (Greensboro, North Carolina), 15 NOV 1945, p. 8, Obituary for son Shirley Porter.
  • ⁷ North Carolina, County Marriages, 1762-1979, FHL No. 102170506, Image 850, Marriage record for Algernon S Porter and Mary V Swaim.
  • ⁸ State Chronicle (Raleigh, North Carolina), 05 OCT 1888, p. 4, Obituary for Dr. A. S. Porter.
  • ⁹ The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, North Carolina), 07 SEP 1941, Sect. 3, p. 14, "Mother of O. Henry Woman of Talent".
  • ¹⁰ The Daily Evening Patriot (Greensboro, North Carolina), 02 OCT 1888, p. 4, Obituary for Dr. A. S. Porter.
  • ¹¹ The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, North Carolina), 22 JUN 1866, p. 2, "The Life of William Swaim," Chapter Ninth.
  • ¹² Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940, FHL No 7578226, Image 146, Marriage of son Shirley W Porter and Mollie E Vanstory.
  • ¹³ Virginia, U.S., Select Marriages, 1785-1940, Marriage record for son Shirley W Porter and Mollie E Vanstory.
  • ¹⁴ Greensboro History Museum, William Sidney Porter Papers (Mss. Coll. 11).
  • ¹⁵ Homans, James E., The Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 8, New York: The Press Association Compilers, Inc. (1918), 371.
  • ¹⁶ Lang, Mae Elizabeth, The Pioneers from Vickory to Vickery, St. Joseph, Illinois: Typed manuscript (n. d.), https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/25928/, 121.
  • ¹⁷ Page, Arthur W., ed., The World's Work, Volume 33, Nov., 1916 to April, 1917: A History of Our Time, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page and Company (1916-1917), 55.
  • ¹⁸ Roberts, Gary Boyd, The Mayflower 500: Five Hundred Notable Descendants of the Founding Families on the Mayflower, Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society (2020), 206.
  • ¹⁹ Roberts, Gary Boyd and William Addams Reitwiesner, American Ancestors and Cousins of The Princess of Wales, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. (1984), 52.
  • ²⁰ Smith, C. Alphonso, O. Henry Biography, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page and Company (1916), 26, 40-44.