WALLBAUM, FREDERICK C., one of the heavy landowners of Cass County and president of the State Bank of Ashland, as well as largely interested in many of the leading business enterprises of this place, is one of the thoroughly representative men of the locality in which he makes his home. He was born in Cartwright Township, Sangamon County, Ill., November 9, 1871, a son of William and Elizabeth (Chittick) Wallbaum, natives of Germany and Ireland, respectively. When William Wallbaum was eight years old he came to the Untied States, landing at St. Louis, Mo. There he found employment at this trade of shoemaking, but left that city in 1836 for Sangamon County, Ill.,, where he worked for different farmers for several years, then moved to Morgan County where he married and began farming for himself about the close of the Civil War. He died January 9, 1905, aged sixty-seven and one-half years, his first wife having passed away in 1894. Their children were as follows: Frederick C.; and E. A., who is of Pleasant Plains, Ill. The father's second marriage was to Martha Conway Virgin, and they had one daughter and one son, Emma May, who is of Springfield, Ill.; and William C. who is of Ashland, Ill.

After attending the district schools Frederick C. Wallbaum took a course in the Jacksonville Business College, and for two years following his marriage resided on his father's farm. In March, 1897, he bought 200 acres of land in township 17, range 9, Cass County, two and one-half miles west of Ashland, upon which he moved and began farming, raising registered Duroc-Jersey hogs, Percheron and a standard breed of road horses, and is a large feeder of cattle. He has added to his farm until he now owns 407� acres in the home place, which he is personally conducting; 140 acres, just north of Ashland, which he rents; 240 acres in Cartwright Township, Sangamon County, which he rents, and he is interested in several business enterprises as well. Mr. Wallbaum was one of the organizers of the Farmers State Bank of Ashland, which came into existence in September, 1905, and has been its president ever since. William Mann, of Morgan County, Ill., is the vice-president; M. J. Murray is the cashier; and Raymond Mann is the assistant cashier. The capital stock of this bank is $50,000, and dividends have been paid since the first year, and at the same time a desirable surplus is retained. Mr. Wallbaum was also one of the organizers of the Farmers Elevator Company of Ashland and Prentice, and now is secretary and treasurer of the Ashland Elevator Company. He was five years an officer in the Illinois Farmers Grain Dealers' Association, three years as director and two years as president, a cooperative grain organization composed of 350 companies which handle the most of the grain grown in the grain belt of Illinois. He is a trustee and treasurer of the endowment fund of Shurtleff college of Alton, Ill., a pioneer Baptist school. The First Baptist church of Ashland holds his membership, and the organization has had the advantage of his services as treasurer since 1899. He is a deacon and for many years has been superintendent of the Sunday school. Formerly a Republican, he is now a Progressive. A charter member of Ashland Lodge No. 929, A.F. & A.M., he also belongs to Jacksonville Chapter No. 3, and is a member of the Jacksonville Commandery, also a charter member of the new Shrine Lodge of Springfield. The Odd Fellows, No. 514, and the Modern Woodmen, No. 1436, both of Ashland, also hold his membership. The Court of Honor, Ashland Lodge No. 216, numbers him among its workers and earnest members.

In October, 1894, Mr. Wallbaum married Alice Clark of Petersburg, Ill., a daughter of Albert Allen and Ellen (Goodell) Clark, natives of Menard County, Ill. Mrs. Wallbaum is the youngest of a family of four children, and of fifty-four grandchildren of her grandfather, Henry Clark, of Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Wallbaum have two children: Frederick Clark, who was born February 20, 1899, and is now a student at the Western Military Academy of Alton, Ill.; and William Lee, who was born November 28, 1900, and is attending the public school of Ashland, Ill.