Alexander D. Crooks, president of the State Bank of Fredonia, and one of the prominent and influential citizens of Wilson county, was born in Chambers county, Alabama, Dec. 23, 1861, and accompanied his parents, James and Alvara (McCarley) Crooks, to Kansas in 1868. The father was born in County Londonderry, Ireland, in 1836, and came to America in 1848, when twelve years of age, in company with an uncle. Settling first in South Carolina, he removed from there to Indiana, thence to Illinois, and then, in 1868, came to Kansas, locating on a farm in Allen county. In 1873 he removed from Allen county to Wilson county, where he has since resided and where he has become a large land owner. He started in life a poor boy, but by honest and persistent effort he has accumulated a creditable competency and become one of the well-to-do men of Wilson county. He is a Republican in his political adherency. The mother of Alexander D. Crooks was born in Alabama. Both parents are active and consistent members of the Presbyterian church.

Alexander D. Crooks was but seven years of age when his parents came to this state and thus he has been a Kansan from early childhood. After completing the usual common school course in Wilson county he entered the Kansas State Normal School at Emporia, in 1882, and was graduated there in 1887. For the following six years he was engaged in teaching and was employed as an instructor at Oswego, Osage City, Wakeeney, and Fredonia. His service at Wakeeney was from 1890 to 1892, as principal of the schools there, and the following year he became superintendent of the schools at Fredonia. His entrance into active business life was made in 1893, when he became cashier of the State Bank of Fredonia. In 1909, after sixteen years of faithful and efficient service in the capacity of cashier, he was made president of the bank, in which position he has continued to the present time. His splendid business acumen and sound judgment have been evident in the successful conduct of the bank's affairs, that institution having enjoyed a steady and substantial growth. The State Bank of Fredonia was organized in 1885, and in 1894 was made a state bank. It has a capital of $30,000, a surplus and undivided profits of $35,000, and its deposits average about $200,000.

In 1893, in New Mexico, Mr. Crooks was united in marriage to Miss Alma Root, who was born in Nebraska and was a teacher for a number of years prior to her marriage. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Crooks has been blessed with one son, Reed, now a senior in the Fredonia High School. In political affairs Mr. Crooks is a Republican and fraternally he is a Mason. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and are citizens of high standing in their community.