The Hermit of Mad River

The Hermit of Mad River in front of the cabin he lived in at Zane Caverns

The Hermit using a pulley system to climb a tree

The Hermit beside the pulley system he used to climb trees

The Hermit using the pulley system he designed to climb trees

The Hermit carving a tree limb

The Hermit of Mad River beside his cabin at Zane Caverns

Steinberger's painting "The Kissing of Rachel"

David Orrin Steinberger was an artist and professor who became known as the “Hermit of Mad River.” He resided at Zane Caverns from 1937 to 1941.

Steinberger was born in Clark County in 1857 to George and Elizabeth Funk Steinberger. He spent his childhood on his family’s farm in Mad River Township. He was educated at Wittenberg College, the National Academy of Design, and the Art League in New York. After completing his education, he became a book and magazine illustrator for Funk and Wagnalls, a company started by his uncle Isaac Funk and Adam Wagnalls in 1876. He drew illustrations for The Youth’s Companion, Farm and Fireside, the Literary Digest as well as other publications.

In 1894, Steinberger returned to Springfield and accepted a job at Wittenberg College teaching clay modeling and “Pen Drawing for Illustration”. The College was thrilled to have such a successful illustrator on their staff. However, he did not feel comfortable with the confinement of the classroom and went back to being an illustrator.

When the Spanish American War broke out in 1898, Steinberger painted and won an award for his watercolor painting titled “The Accolade”. He donated this work of art to the Red Cross with a plan to raise a million dollars for the Cuban Relief Committee of the Red Cross. Copies of "The Accolade" were sold for one dollar. He usually incorporated a heart in his drawings and paintings.

Around 1900, Steinberger learned he had tuberculosis. He sought a cure for his illness in Colorado, but it was unsuccessful. He then returned to Clark Co. where he vowed to spend the rest of his life living outdoors. Being an ingenious person, and with the help of friends, he built a tree house out of scrap lumber in an eighty-foot elm tree on his father’s farm. He created a bed using willow branches for his simple abode.

His “Camp-A-Loft” home was first reached using a ladder made of rope and twisted grapevine. He then designed a pulley system to raise himself and supplies to his tree house. From nearby Nettle Creek, he dug clay and made bowls, plates, and pottery for cooking. Steinberger used a pit lined with stones for an oven and built campfires for cooking and warmth. For food, he trapped small game and fished and gathered mushrooms, berries, nuts, and various roots in the woods. He used a hollow log to catch rainwater for drinking and bathing.

After living in his tree house for several years, his health improved. He supported himself by selling his drawings and lived quite well. When the weather was bad, or it was too cold, he stayed in a small cabin nearby.

Steinberger was given the name “The Hermit of Mad River” by the local media after his sister, Mary, held her wedding in his tree house in 1908. Although he was referred to as a “hermit,” he was very social and welcomed visitors. He even made maps to his home and marked trees showing the way. He is quoted as saying “he did not live in seclusion; it was city people who were isolated and secluded.” He enjoyed giving nature tours to children through the woods and along the Mad River. Bird watching was one of his favorite pastimes and it is said that he could “mimic their songs with uncanny accuracy.”

Steinberger eventually moved to another tree house that was only forty feet up in a tree and lived there until 1922. His third “Camp-A-Loft” was built on a farm near Cedar Bog in Champaign Co. He lived there until 1935, when his tree house was severely damaged in a storm. At seventy-eight years old, he decided it was time to try living on the ground again. After a few unsuccessful attempts at living with friends he took up residence in a shack in the woods.

In January 1937, Steinberger suffered from a leg injury, and many people were concerned about his welfare. The Champaign Co. Sheriff’s Dept. decided to arrest him on vagrancy charges “for his own good.” He found his jail cell “hatefully narrow” and let his displeasure be known. He begged to be released so he could live in a hollow log located near the Mad River.

Before long, Steinberger had many sympathizers on his side, and the story of “the Hermit” being locked up against his will spread. Charles Richey and his son, Herbert, owners of Zane Caverns, came to his rescue by inviting him to live in a log cabin at the caverns. When Sheriff Jay McKeever told the eighty-year-old that the charges had been dropped and he had a home, he wept with joy.

Steinberger liked his new home but did not like the electric lights or the concrete floor. He did like the holes that were in the walls and insisted they not be filled in because “too much heat isn’t good for any man; I like fresh air.” He also had a tree house and used the same pulley system to hoist himself up that he had used in previous “Camp-A-Lofts.”

Zane Caverns was also home to the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941. The Camp Zane men loved to visit Steinberger and would sit and listen to his stories for hours. On one occasion, Steinberger expressed a desire for fresh water so the men from the C.C.C. camp dragged half a hollow beech log to his cabin to catch rainwater from his roof. The Hermit welcomed visitors and kept a guest book for everyone to sign.

After the U.S. entered WWII, the C.C.C. men left, and Zane Caverns temporarily closed. About that time, “the Hermit” left, too. He lived outdoors for a while in a barn in Champaign Co. and then entered the Champaign County Home where he passed away in 1945 at the age of eight-eight. When he died, he was still convinced that fresh air, sunshine, and hard work had been the key to his longevity.