Camp Cedar Hollow - The Roster

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Something like two thousand young men passed through Cedar Hollow between 1934 and 1941, two hundred at a time, most of them for six months or a year. We will never find them all. This roster is the men who have come to our reunions since the first one in 1983, or written to us, and what they have told us about themselves. If you see a mistake, please tell me. If you know of a man who should be here, please tell me that even more.

A note on the jobs. A "leader" or "assistant leader" was an enrollee put in charge of a crew or a barracks, with extra pay for it: forty-five dollars a month for a leader and thirty-six for an assistant. An "L.E.M." was a Local Experienced Man, a grown man from the hills hired to teach us a trade.

At the Reunion, September 18, 1999

Name, home, years	Camp job, and after
Glen Blackstone Poplar Bluff 1934-36	Powder man on the dam. Army infantry in Italy, then forty years with the state highway department. The oldest of us there, at 83.
Johnny Stamey a farm near West Plains 1935-37	Rock crew on the dam, then leader of it. Navy, then farmed the home place until 1990.
Leslie Brady St. Louis 1935-37	Supply room, and tailor to the whole company. Army quartermaster, then a dry cleaning shop of his own for thirty years.
Cornelius Friedlander St. Louis 1936-38	Rock crew, then stonemason's helper on the Ridge Trail shelters. Army engineers in France and Germany, then a union carpenter for 35 years. Keeper of this page.
Tony Moye Kansas City 1936-38	Truck driver. Army Air Forces mechanic, then drove a city bus in Kansas City for 31 years.
Eugene Kieffer Hannibal 1936-37	Mess hall, second cook. Navy cook in the Pacific, then a diner of his own. He brought two of the pies.
Thomas Poulin St. Louis 1937-38	Camp bugler and trail crew. Army band, then taught high school music for 33 years. His grandson played Taps for us.
Walter Hasson Sedalia 1937-39	Log crew on the Dining Lodge. Seabees in the Pacific, then built houses in Sedalia.
Allen Hamilton Springfield 1938-39	Company clerk. Army, then forty years at the post office.
Robert Fritz St. Joseph 1938-40	Blacksmith shop, sharpening picks and drill steel. Army ordnance, then a welding shop.
Isaac Goolsby a farm near Rolla 1939-40	Rodman for the park engineer on the stone bridge. Marines, then a land surveyor.
Sheldon Harrell Cape Girardeau 1940-41	Overlook wall crew. Army infantry, then a park ranger for the state for 29 years, which we all think is the best answer on this page.
Elliott Lakin Jefferson City 1940-41	Tree planting and infirmary orderly. Army medic, then a pharmacist.
Ben Parada Kansas City 1940-41	Overlook wall crew, and one of the last men out when the camp closed. Navy, then a machinist. The youngest of us there, at 77.

Still With Us, but Not at the Reunion

Name, home, years	Camp job, and after
Thurman Langley Joplin 1934-35	One of the first company, who lived in the tents. Lead mines, then the Army, then a hardware store. Lives with his daughter in Arkansas now.
Dallas Shaughnessy St. Louis 1934-36	Assistant leader, barracks three. Army, then a railroad conductor. In a nursing home in St. Louis County and would like mail.
Marvin Green Springfield 1935-36	Mess hall. Army, then a barber. His hip kept him home this year.
Edward Wessel St. Louis 1936-37	My bunkmate. Stonemason's helper with me. Army, then thirty years at an aircraft plant. Lives in Arizona and sends his regards.
Arthur Stickles Cape Girardeau 1938-40	Stone bridge crew. Navy, then taught shop at a high school. He found our old flagpole base in the woods in 1983.
Emmett Bailey the Bootheel 1939-40	Trail crew. Army, then farmed cotton and beans. Harvest time, so he couldn't get away.
Harry Yaeger St. Louis 1939-41	Canteen steward. Army Air Forces, then sold insurance. Moved to Florida.
Stanley Wilde Kansas City 1940-41	Tree planting. Army infantry, then a printer. Wrote to say his grandson's wedding was the same day.

Our Officers and Foremen

None of these men are living, but no history of Cedar Hollow would be right without them.

Captain Joseph Conroy, Army Reserve, commanding officer from 1935 to 1939. Strict and fair. He knew every man's name by the end of his first week.
Mr. Abe Bruton, project superintendent for the park work. He drew the shelters himself on brown paper, and he would make you take down a wall if a stone was set wrong.
Mr. Andy Burroughs, L.E.M., stonemason, from a hollow about six miles from camp. He taught a hundred city boys to lay stone and never raised his voice. Every shelter on the ridge is his.
Mr. Peter Featherstone, camp educational adviser. He taught typing and arithmetic and talked half the company into finishing school.
Sergeant Ora Johnson, mess sergeant. The best biscuits in the state of Missouri. We still argue about the gravy.

The Last Roll

The men of our camp who have died since we began meeting in 1983. A star (*) marks the men we lost this past year, whose names were read at the reunion. May they rest in peace.

Name, years in camp	Camp job, and after
Wilson Olson 1934-35 · died 1984	First company, road crew. Army, then a farmer.
Ed Gebhardt 1934-36 · died 1986	Leader, dam crew. Army engineers, then a contractor.
Joseph Boyd 1935-36 · died 1987	Truck driver. Army, then drove a truck for forty years.
George Tapley 1935-37 · died 1989	Log crew. Navy, then a lineman for the power company.
Fred Dewitt 1934-36 · died 1991	Rock crew, and the camp's boxing champion. Army, then a policeman in St. Louis.
Robert Saenz 1936-37 · died 1992	Mess hall, baker. Army, then a bakery of his own in Kansas City.
Johnie Harrison 1937-38 · died 1993	Trail crew. Army, then a coal miner and a deacon.
Lawrence Mullens 1936-38 · died 1994	Stonemason's helper on the Dining Lodge. Army, then a bricklayer.
Charles Griffin 1937-39 · died 1995	Assistant leader, barracks one. Army Air Forces, then a teacher.
Paul Sorenson 1938-39 · died 1997	Tree planting. Army, then a forester for the state.
Evan Eldridge * 1936-37 · died November 1998	Rock crew. Army infantry, then a mail carrier.
Melvin Boggs * 1938-40 · died February 1999	Stone bridge crew. Navy, then a carpenter like me. A good man with a level.
Leland Eppinger * 1939-41 · died July 1999	Overlook wall crew. Army, then worked for the railroad. He came to every reunion until this one.

If you know of a Cedar Hollow man who has passed and is not on this list, please write to me at [email protected] so that his name can be read.

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Last updated September 23, 1999