"O. Henry Had Early Romance; Miss Sallie Coleman was O. Henry's Only Greensboro Sweetheart." Appearing in the Greensboro Record on September 11, 1925 .

O. HENRY HAD EARLY ROMANCE

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Miss Sallie Coleman was O. Henry’s Only Greensboro Sweetheart

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BECAME MRS. PORTER

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After Separation of Many Years Will Porter Married First Love

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By Nell Craig

The Will Porter that Greensboro of fifty or more years ago knew as a mischievous little boy, with a keen sense of humor, a remarkable imagination and an aptitude for sketching may have shown signs of growing up into O. Henry, writer of masterly short stories but they are indications which are apparent to those who look back over those years intent upon reading the conduct of that modest, unobtrusive boy in the book, of his later years for to those who were most closely associated with him he had the inclinations of the average normal boy.

One of these was a tendency toward youthful romance. O. Henry did not escape from the several stages of boyhood love, with which parents and teachers are more or less familiar. It was at the tender age of six that his manly heart was first touched by feminine charms, and the same little girl who was his school sweetheart, 30 years later after a separation of years and thousands of miles, became Mrs. William Sydney Porter.

Little Sallie Coleman must have been a charming miss, for she so inspired the little boy, Will Porter with her charms that he set out one night on a bold adventure to win a prize fit for the acceptance of a fair lady.

In his “O. Henry Biography,” Dr. C. Alphonso Smith gives a letter from Thomas H. Tate, boyhood friend of Will Porter, from which the following extraction regarding the raid on the magnolia garden of Judge Albion Winegar Tourgee, Greensboro’s chief carpet-bagger, is taken:

“You will remember that he” meaning Judge Tourgee “had a beautiful country place out on Guilford College Road. There was a greenhouse, flowers, shrubbery, and an immense rustic arbor there and it was used for dances and had an upper and lower floor. Miss Sallie Coleman was visiting in Greensboro, and either expressed a desire for magnolias or Will conceived that she would like to have some, so we started about midnight on the six miles’ “hike” to West Green to spoil and loot. Strange to say the memory of that moonlit night is with me now even after all these years. It was a perfect night. The moon was full and showering down her mellow radiance in great floods. I can see the long white line of road stretching out, hear the whippoorwills and smell the good night air laden with its species and fragrance and I can see the long row of magnolia trees out in the wheat field and orchard. I can also feel the creepy sensation that I felt when we mounted the fence and started across the open field for the trees and the relief that came when we crossed the fence with the loot. We carried them back and laid them on Miss Sallie’s doorstep.

“Miss Sallie,” although not herself a native of Greensboro, was the daughter of a Greensboro woman, Mrs. Thaddeus Coleman, who was formerly Miss Mary Sloan, and was born and reared in Greensboro, Miss Sally, however, spent the greater part of her childhood and early girlhood in Greensboro, for she lived with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Sloan, and attended—with Will Porter and a lot of other little Greensboro boys and girls many of whom have since arisen to positions of importance—the school which was conducted on West Market street by Miss Lina Porter, the aunt who is always spoken of when reference is made to O. Henry’s Greensboro days.

She was here for months at a time until she reached the “sunbonnet age” and after that she came back for long visits when she and Will Porter were in their teens. She continued to be his boyhood sweetheart, and as far as Greensboro people of that period recall she was the only girl who captured the fancy of young Will Porter.

It was November 27, 1907, that Miss Sallie Coleman became the second wife of William Sydney Porter. Their friendship had been renewed about two years previously, when Miss Coleman learned that the gifted writer O. Henry was the Will Porter whom she had known years before. She had written asking for confirmation of the report she heard to that effect, and in reply he said in true O. Henry fashion, “I’d be so pleased to hear something about what the years have done for you, and what you think when the tree frogs begin to holler in the evening.”

Thus it was that the Greensboro sweetheart of Will Porter became his wife when he was know to the world as O. Henry.