Bloomingston was born in Chicago in 1874. He was the son of John S. Bloomingston (1843–1901) and Frances E. Drake Bloomingston. His father was an immigrant from Switzerland and the editor and proprietor of the Investigator, one of the oldest insurance papers in the west. His mother was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and a descendant of Col. Samuel Drake and William Hooker.