Frederick Herbert was born on May 3, 1860, in Lynn, Massachusetts, to Thomas and Mary Herbert. His father was a book dealer who owned $1,000 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Lynn, Massachusetts, and by 1880, he was working as a clerk in a clothing store. The family moved to Weare, New Hampshire, around 1887. He married Elsie Craft around 1891, and they apparently had no children. They lived in Weare, and Herbert worked as an electrician. He died of “Ureamic poisoning” in Weare on April 4, 1913.