Philip Cain Gelling, a pioneer in Brown County, was born on the Isle of Man in 1849. He came to Dakota Territory from Illinois in 1882 and homesteaded on this site. Philip married Elizabeth Johnson in 1887, and they had eight children: Walter, Howard, Robert, Gertrude, Ralph, Ted, Earl, and Margaret. His accomplishments included establishing his homestead, owning and operating a general store in Frederick, breaking and selling horses to the U.S. Army, surveying Dakota Territory, and representing Brown County in the South Dakota House of Representatives in 1911 and 1912. Elizabeth J. Gelling was his pioneering partner and wife.