Thomas Wilson Spence was an Irish American immigrant, lawyer, and politician. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the city of Fond du Lac during the 1877 and 1879 sessions. As a young man, he was one of the "Ohio Five", who were among the early students of Cornell University. Spence rose to legal prominence in Milwaukee, and died of a heart attack in the chambers of the Wisconsin Supreme Court while making oral arguments. "He died with his tie on."

Fond du Lac is a city in and the county seat of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Fond du Lac metropolitan statistical area, which includes all of Fond du Lac County. Fond du Lac is the 348th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.