This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Muhlbacher Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/5YB.2ACE/2856 Message Board Post: Joseph Muhlbacher, better known as The Hermitt" died in the Cheyenne hospital on July 9, 1955. Joseph Muhlbacher brought more fame to Roger Mills County and Cheyenne than any other person who ever resided here, his fame coming from the fact that he was a hermit. Joe was born in Deutschfeisteritz, Austria on March 1, 1876. He came to the United States from Bremman, Germany, landing on June 9, 1901. He came to Roger Mills County on June 23, 1905 where he homesteaded on a claim west of Cheyenne. Here he resided until about a year ago when he came to a rest home in Cheyenne. He became an American citizen September 7, 1910. Joe Muhlbacher, became known as a hermit because he refused to accept modern progress. He lived in a stone half dugout of his own construction which was known for its preculiar statues, he ate a simple fare of food. His mode of travel was with a team and wagon. He never wore a hat and never shaved. He lived his own simple life, never interfering in the affairs of others. Joe loved to play the violin, and could be heard for some distance on still nights, playing for hours. In 1941 a script writer for the radio program, "We The People" became interested in Joe and arranged for him to appear in New York City on this program. The trip to New York City on which John C. Casady accompanied him, was Joe's first contact with the outside world since arriving in Roger Mills County in 1905. He marveled at the speed of the automobile, the swiftness of the train and the hubbub of New York City. Joe admitted he enjoyed the bath tub which he contacted for the first time in his life in his hotel room in New York City. Following this, Joe became the subject of a movie short. Many newspaper and magazine articles were written about him and many people visited his queer residence near Cheyenne. Services were held Sunday July 10, 1955 in the Pentecostal church in Cheyenne. Burial was in the Cheyenne cemetery, Cheyenne, Roger Mills County, Oklahoma with Scroggins Funeral Home in charge. Cheyenne Star, Cheyenne, OK