 Philo Hall was born in Wilton Township, Waseca County, Minnesota on December 31, 1865, the son of Mary E. (Greene) and Philo Hall, a Union Army veteran of the American Civil War.His parents ran a hotel in Wilton, and the family moved to Brookings, Dakota Territory after the 1883 death of the senior Philo Hall.The young Philo hall was educated in Wilton and South Dakota State College.