Hervey De Witt Griswold was born on May 24, 1860 in Dryden, New York to Benjamin and Laura Eliza (Hurd) Griswold. He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York from 1881 to 1885, and then went to Union Theological Seminary in New York City from 1885 to 1888. During the following two years Griswold had a fellowship at Oxford and Berlin Universities. Griswold began his 36-year-long career as a missionary in 1890 in Jhansi, India as a representative of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. In 1894 Griswold became Professor of Philosophy at Forman Christian College in Lahore, India (now Pakistan), teaching English and history there as well. As its librarian Griswold built the Foreman Christian College Library, adding a substantial number of books on religion and philosophy to the collection. Griswold also served as secretary of the India Council of the Presbyterian Missions. In 1900 Griswold received his Ph.D. from Cornell University, based on his thesis on the Indian Philosophy known as Brahman. In 1910 Griswold obtained his Doctor of Divinity. A prolific writer, he wrote about Hinduism and other Indian religions. He also wrote about the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, at a time when Ahmad was alive, and critically analyzed his claims to be the promised Messiah and Mahdi.