Jacob Spaulding, stone-mason and wheelwright by trade, and father of Dudley J. Spaulding, immigrated from Massachusetts to Johnstown, New York in 1830, where four years later Dudley was born. When the boy was two, the family moved to Illinois, and two years later, moved again to Wisconsin. Discarding his former trade, Jacob Spaulding soon gained control of and developed the water power at the falls of the Black River. About his lumber mill a small village grew, known as “Spalding's Settlement,” and later named Black River Falls, Jackson County, Wisconsin. In 1860, Jacob deeded the mill property and water power to Dudley, although he continued to help in managing the business until his death in 1876.
