James D. Farmer had just one interest: selling cattle. He entered the cattle business in Tarrant County when he established the Hoxie Pacing House, a forerunner of the giant Swift and Armour packing houses in the Stockyards.

He organized the Fort Worth Live Stock Commission Co., the first firm organized strictly for buying and selling cattle in the Fort Worth Market. He later branched out and organized the Rhome-Farmer Live Stock Commission Co. A democrat, Farmer was elected as the first mayor of North Fort Worth, serving two terms before the town merged with the larger Fort Worth.