Manuscript Collections - Harold A. “Bus” Thomas Collection

HAROLD A. “BUS” THOMAS COLLECTION
1 linear foot, 8 linear inches (3 LGA-S boxes, 1 oversize box)
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

Harold Thomas was born in West Branch on November 29, 1903.  He picked up the nickname Bus during his childhood from for wearing a Buster Brown suit.  In 1922 he graduated from West Branch High School. He married Catherine Krouth in Rock Island, IL on January 3, 1924.  The couple, members of the Conservative Friends Meeting, had two sons, Phillip and Kenneth.  In 1965 Thomas retired from the Post Office after 25 years of service.  Thomas died in West Branch on March 28, 1997.

As a young boy his mother, Pauline, worked as a correspondent for the West Branch Times.  Back then he kept a notebook of events, which sparked an interest in local history.  Over time he became an unofficial historian for West Branch.  The Harold A. Thomas Collection consists of two linear feet of reminiscences, correspondence, published materials, oral history audio recordings, reproductions of photographs, and other historical materials documenting early West Branch history and information on the family of Herbert Hoover.

FOLDER LIST
Box Contents

1

Airplanes
Automobiles and Classic Cars (3 Folders)
Belle Plaine
Blacksmith’s Shop
Business Houses
Chamber of Commerce
Chautauqua
Churches and Cemeteries
Civil War Veterans
Downey Store
Elmira
Enlow Library
Fairgrounds
Brown, John
Farm Tractors
Fire Department
Flexible Flyer Sled
Floods
Fourth of July Celebrations
Gower Township Historical Sketch

2

Herbert Hoover Library and Birthplace
Heritage Museum
Hoover, Herbert – Birth
Horseshoe Park
Jackson, Ann Eliza Craven (midwife who delivered Herbert Hoover)
Leech, Dr. L. J.
Livery Stables
Local History – Multiple Subjects

Clippings
Notes
Miscellaneous

Hotels
Mayors of West Branch
Mercer, John
Morris, Albert – Residence
Oasis Store
Opera Block Building
Parades
Plato Store
Presidential Visits to West Branch
Post Office

3

Railroads and Trains

Audiotapes on RR History
Breakfast Bacon Special
Clippings
Historical Notes and General
Pictures and Photographs
Tickets

Roads

Scattergood School
School Play, 1926
Stage Coach
Street Scenes

4

Thomas Family History
Thomas, Harold (Bus) (includes reminiscences)
Tomato Queen, 1930
Town Hall
Trucks and Classic Trucks
Union Block Building
West Branch Gun Club
West Branch Lions Club Charter Night, 1950
West Branch Public Works
Wilhelm, Carl
Miscellaneous (2 Folders)

5

(Oversize Items)

Map of West Branch, Undated
Team Photo
West Branch Cemetery, 1879