Hellen was born on March 17, 1833, in Westernville, Oneida, New York, to William and Catherine Ely Starr Hungerford.  Her father may have also carried an additional family name of Tarsush.  Williams branch of the Hungerford family emigrated to New London, Connecticut from Somerset County, England and has been traced back to Everard DeHungerford in 12th century England.  Catherine's first ancestor in America was Dr. Comfort Starr, who emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts in 1635 from Kent County, England.

In the late 1850s, Hellen arrived in Charles City, Iowa, from Ohio with her two children, Lizzie and Henry G. Taylor after losing her first husband, Henry M. Taylor.  Hellen's older brother, Seth Hungerford, already lived in Charles City.  Their mother, Katherine, joined her two adult children there after the death of their father in 1859.  Hellen must have met Jackson Wood through her brother.  They were married in January of 1859, according to Floyd County's book of early marriage records.

Helen (in later years she used the modern spelling) lived until June 9, 1917 in her own home at 501 Kelley Street in Charles City and died at age 84 of a stroke.  She is buried in the Riverside Cemetery in Charles City.

After Helen's death, Henry G. Taylor returned to Charles City from Modesto, California, and signed the probate papers with his half-siblings: Rosa H. Dodgson of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ben A. Wood of Syracuse, Kansas; Mary E. Tubbs and Ralph N. Wood, both of Charles City, Iowa.  Elizabeth (Lizzie) Sturgis, lived in New York City at the time of her mother's death.