Herbert Hungerford was born at Binghamton, New York, February 22, 1874.
He was brought up on a farm, obtained the groundwork of his education
in district schools, and graduated from the academy at Windsor, New
York, in 1895. The following year he entered Syracuse university, but
was compelled to leave at the close of the freshman year on account
of illness. Serving as a private in the First Regiment of New York
volunteer infantry during the Spanish-American war, he, while the
regiment was stationed at Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, established,
edited and published the News Muster, which was a unique contribution
to the curiosities of journalism, being the first illustrated newspaper
published by a body of soldiers in the field. At the close of the war
he returned to Binghamton and there organized the initial branches of
the Success league. Later he was called to New York to further and take
charge of the development of the organization in question, which is a
federation of literary, debating and self-culture societies. The league
has developed rapidly under his direction, now having branches in every
state and in nearly every city and town of importance in the United
States. He was married, in 1898, to Grace M. Whipple, of Binghamton,
New York.