Lon Warford
“Lon Warford was born October 3, 1885 in a house on East Avenue. His father was Thomas Benjamin Warford, who was Springfield’s Street Commissioner in the early 1890’s. In 1892, the family moved to St. Louis, where Thomas Warford had a job as a car repairman for a railroad. On February 10, 1898, Thomas was killed in a railroad accident, and Lon and his mother moved back to Springfield.
“Lon went as far as the eighth grade and that was all the formal education he had. He worked at various jobs, including the old furniture factory and at a brewery for a time. In 1903 he got a job helping to put up the buildings for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and stayed on as an employee for the duration of the fair. He still carries his metal employee tag from that job. The winter of 1907 was a period of deep depression and it was pretty tough going for Mr. Warford. In 1908 he got a job as an oiler on the night shift at the gas and electric company’s power plant. He worked a 12-hour shift, 7 days a week, for $1.00 a day, and his job was to see that the three engines in the power house were properly oiled.
“About 1911, Lon Warford was an employee of the meter department of the Springfield Gas and Electric Co. He tested, set and read meters. He also trimmed street lights.
The lights were of the carbon arc variety, two sticks of carbon, one above the other, enclosed in what was supposed to be an air-tight globe. The lights were suspended from wooden poles and a sort of leather strap ran from the light through a pulley and part way down the pole, where the end of the strap was fastened to a hook. The trimmer had a ladder and a wooden pole which he carried in his cart. His pole had a hook on the end of it and he would reach up, hook the pole to the end of the strap, unfasten the strap, and lower the light to where he could get to it. Then he’d change the carbons, replace the globe, and move on.
“That was 45 years ago and Mr. Warford is still working for the gas and electric company. Ed Rice, retiring as chairman of City Utilities Board of Directors, gave Mr. Warford a certificate in appreciation of his service, though Mr. Warford had no plans to retire."
"The horse and cart photo shows Lon Warford from early in his career, in the rig he used on his street light trimming rounds."
Bias Magazine, September 29, 1953
Sadly, Mr. Warford was struck and killed by a car while trying to cross Kearney Street. He died April 6, 1955.
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