Amish History

My friend Mose Smucker was in the news over the weekend. Mose is an Amish father of 8 (and grandfather of more) who currently runs a meat shop and sandwich stand at bustling Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia (grab a sandwich from Mose if you’re ever in the neighborhood, if he’s not around his daughters [...]

Continue Reading Mose Smucker on being Amish in public

Towards the end of the Kutztown University Old Order peoples talk, Ben Riehl made a remark–I’m paraphrasing here–that “the Amish and Mennonites are just a small piece of a much bigger Pennsylvania German story”. Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center director Dr. Rob Reynolds has shared a little bit of that story with us today. The [...]

Continue Reading Dr. Rob Reynolds on Pennsylvania German Society

We’ve seen Amish in court quite a bit lately.  Some cases have involved Amish clashing with laws of the state (KY SMV; PA horse neglect).  Others involve grievances between Amish and former Amish (Amish beard-cutting). For another example of the latter, we can look back in history to a 1947 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper piece  “‘Mited’ [...]

Continue Reading 1947: Amish court conflict over a “mite”

On a recent “Name that Amish community” post, the question came up of Amish living in British Columbia, Canada. In fact, no Amish live in British Columbia, though other Anabaptist peoples, including Old Colony Mennonites and Vietnamese Mennonites, live in the province (see Concise Encyclopedia of Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites).  Today, Amish in Canada [...]

Continue Reading Amish in British Columbia?

I just got back from Poland, all in one piece.  Hey, it’s hot here!  As we were landing, the captain came on the intercom to let us know the temp awaiting us below in Raleigh: 100 degrees. That brought a few gasps from my cabin-mates, but I think I smiled a little.  If you just [...]

Continue Reading Raising the Stoltzfus Barn, Horse-and-buggy Mennonites, and a 6th NY Amish funeral

We’ve got a winner today of last week’s History of the Bernese Anabaptists contest. As you’ll recall, the book was written in German by Ernst Müller and published in 1895.  It waited over a century for its first English translation, a task which John Gingerich took on a few years ago. I’ve done a bit of translating [...]

Continue Reading History of the Bernese Anabaptists book winner

About four years back, Geauga County, Ohio native John Gingerich undertook to translate a text very important to the history of the Amish and other Anabaptists. History of the Bernese Anabaptists was written by Ernst Müller and published in 1895.  Up until now it has never been available in English. In today’s interview, John explains [...]

Continue Reading John Gingerich on History of the Bernese Anabaptists: Interview and book giveaway

Back in January, I shared a few slides of Lancaster County, circa 1963.  Here are a few more: Would today’s Lancaster Amish women consider this overdressed? Lancaster County has the second-most covered bridges of any county in America.  The #1 county? Parke County, Indiana, where a group of Lancaster Amish moved in the 1990s.  Here’s [...]

Continue Reading Lancaster County, 50 years ago (part 2)

Northkill was an Amish settlement existing in Berks County, Pennsylvania in the 1700s.  It was home to some of the earliest Amish settlers in the New World. It was also the site of a brutal massacre still recounted by Amish today. During the French and Indian war, Amishman Jacob Hochstetler’s home came under attack by [...]

Continue Reading Northkill Amish Massacre

The Martyrs Mirror is revered by Amish and other Anabaptists.  It’s a 1,000+ page book recounting the stories of Christian martyrs.  In addition to Biblical-era martyrs, it includes tales of the many early Anabaptists persecuted in Europe. The Martyrs Mirror is in the news because a very old (1748) German-language edition is up for sale [...]

Continue Reading Why do we treasure old books?