YOUNGSTOWN Couple donates old school bus to the Ohio Historical Society

The Smiths have cared for the bus since 1958.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Look at the weathered wooden spokes and rusted metal hinges, and one can imagine the youngsters who boarded this school bus with lunch pails and McGuffey Readers bound in book straps.
They sat in two rows, face-to-face and toe-to-toe, on two thin benches.
And they likely got a smile from bus driver Edwin Marquis Farmer, who sat behind Jack and Jenny -- the mules who pulled the youngsters to a school in Columbiana County's Central School District.
There, the children probably studied in a one-room schoolhouse.
The black-and-yellow, mule-drawn school bus, owned by Eugene and Jeanne Smith, was drawn away Friday from the North Lima farm where they've kept it safe for about 45 years.
Donated
The Smiths have donated the bus, probably used at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, to the Ohio Historical Society.
The bus will be stored until the society decides whether it will restore the bus or conserve it in its current state, said Michael Harsh, assistant director of the collections/curatorial division at the society.
"There are things that we just can't afford to purchase, so when people donate things, it really helps us out," Harsh said. "When I say 'us,' it's not just the Ohio Historical Society I'm referring to, it's the people of Ohio. Because these things, in essence, belong to the people of Ohio."
The bus reads "Beaver Township School" in yellow lettering on both sides. Its driver, Farmer, lived from 1890 to 1947, the Smiths said. His great-granddaughter still lives in Salem.
A wooden stool inside the vehicle was likely used to help the littlest ones who couldn't reach the bottom step, Eugene Smith said. And the bus once had a heating pan that fit along its bottom and held coal, Jeanne Smith added.
"Kids today don't give a thought about jumping on a school bus. It's already warmed up when they jump on," Harsh said. "On a horse-drawn school bus, you had better wear warm clothes."
Inherited bus
The Smiths inherited the bus when they bought the 120-acre farm bordering South Range Road from James and Margie Steer in 1958. (The property is now owned by their daughter, Judge Beth A. Smith of Mahoning County Domestic Relations Court, and her family.) The Steers had presented the bus in the bicentennial parade; the Smiths have continued to care for it since.
Such items are collected by the historical society and used for research or exhibitions, Harsh said, and for teaching about the history of Ohio.
"It's important to know about the history of Ohio," Harsh said. "It helps put together the past for the community."