William Armstead Brooks, Jr., the fifth president of the Farmers National Bank, was born in Forney, September 25, 1898, and was educated at Terrell School for boys in Dallas and Bingham Military Institute in Asheville, North Caroline, where he married Virginia Randolph, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William F. Randolph of Asheville on April 4, 1918.

Immediately after their honeymoon, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks returned to Forney to make it their home where he entered the real estate, cotton, and insurance business. In 1922 he opened his own cotton business in Dallas under the name of Brooks & Company. For the next ten years Mr. Brooks exported cotton to all the cotton consuming nations of the world, making numerous trips to Europe in connection with his business. His firm was considered one of the best cotton shippers in the American market. In 1931 Mrs. Brooks and the two children, W.A. III and Eleanor, accompanied him on one of his European trips and spent six months over there.

He served as president of the Dallas Cotton Exchange during 1931, the youngest president in the history of the Exchange. In 1930 he was elected a director of the Farmers National Bank and became president of the bank after the death of his father in 1932. In the same year he was elected Vice-President and General Manager of the Farmers and Merchants Compress and Warehouse Company. This concern owns and operates twelve compresses throughout North Texas and handles 500,000 bales per year. In 1932 he was elected Treasurer of the Southwestern Compress and Warehouse Association as well as a director of this association. He is considered one of the most capable compress operators in the southwest.

He is prominent in Dallas social circles being a member of the Brook Hollow Golf Club and the Idlewild Club. It was largely due to his efforts that the bowl on the grounds of the State Fair of Texas was designated as the Cotton Bowl.

Although Mr. Brooks lives in Dallas and is not an active officer, he keeps in touch with the bank at all times. Since Mr. Brooks came on the board Feb. 25, 1930, he has been a great help to the active officers, and the bank is indebted to him for its splendid liquid condition today.