Hapgood was born to Charles Hutchins Hapgood (1836–1917) and Fanny Louise (Powers) Hapgood (1846–1922) and grew up inAlton, Illinois, where his father was a wealthy manufacturer of farming equipment. He is the younger brother of the journalist and diplomatNorman Hapgood. After a year at theUniversity of Michigan, he transferred toHarvard University, where he took a B.A. in 1892 and earned his master's degree in 1897. Two of the intervening years were spent studying sociology and philosophy at the universities ofBerlin andFreiburg, Germany. At first, he became a teacher of English composition at Harvard and theUniversity of Chicago, but was eventually inspired by his older brother,Norman to pursue a career in journalism.[2]
He obtained his first employment with theNew York Commercial Advertiser (later known as theNew York Globe). His mentor there wasLincoln Steffens, themuckraking reporter. On June 22, 1899, he marriedNeith Boyce, Steffens' assistant and a journalist in her own right. They had two children, a boy and girl.[3] In 1904, when theAdvertiser was revamped as theGlobe, he went back to Chicago for a time and became the drama critic for theChicago Evening Post. Returning to New York, he spent much of his career as an editorial writer for theNew York Evening Post, thePress, and theGlobe.[4]