Once-Amish Man Running Unlicensed Health Facility Claimed To Have Treated Over 70 Cancer Patients

Once-Amish Man Running Unlicensed Health Facility Claimed To Have Treated Over 70 Cancer Patients

ByErik Wesner

Following the news on once-Amish Eddie R. Gingerich’s arrest and felony charges connected with running an unlicensed health facility, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported more on the story. Reporter Clark Kauffman provides more details on Gingerich’s clientele, and how his practice was outfitted. We also learn more on some individual patient cases – two that turned out poorly, and one with a positive outcome. Claims…

New from Mike & Marty: “Keep On The Sunny Side”

New from Mike & Marty: “Keep On The Sunny Side”

ByErik Wesner

Here is an upbeat song for your day – Mike and Marty just released a new one called “Keep On The Sunny Side”. This tune was originally written in the late 1800s by Ada Blenkhorn, and later recorded by the Carter family. The story behind its writing is moving: In 1899 Ada Blenkhorn was inspired to write the Christian hymn by a phrase used by…

Pickup Hits Amish Buggy Pulling a Boat Before Dawn — Horse Killed, Five Injured

Pickup Hits Amish Buggy Pulling a Boat Before Dawn — Horse Killed, Five Injured

ByErik Wesner
3 Comments

An Amish buggy – carrying at least five people and towing a boat – was struck from behind this morning, killing the horse and leaving five injured. This happened in Stark County, Ohio – part of the sprawling Holmes County Amish settlement. Here’s the report from the Canton Repository: LAWRENCE TWP. ‒ A horse died and five people were injured after a pickup truck hit…

Sam Shetler Pleads Not Guilty After Requesting — And Receiving — New Judge; Bond Again Denied

Sam Shetler Pleads Not Guilty After Requesting — And Receiving — New Judge; Bond Again Denied

ByErik Wesner

There have been a couple of recent updates on the Mercy & Truth Retreat case. Retreat Leader Sam Shetler, indicted on 10 counts including multiple felonies, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the Cooper County, Missouri Courthouse. Also, in what I would assume is a “win” for his side, he had previously requested – and been granted – a new judge in his case. However, that…

Amish Man & Horse Killed After Driver Admits Looking Away from Road

Amish Man & Horse Killed After Driver Admits Looking Away from Road

ByErik Wesner

After a relatively quiet period of (at least no widely-reported) fatal Amish buggy accidents, sadly another bad one happened Tuesday afternoon. This comes out of Lafayette County, Wisconsin. In some of these accidents, the horse survives, while a rider or driver doesn’t make it, and sometimes the reverse. But in this case, both died – following one of the most common types of car-buggy wrecks…

Superintendent Claims Hundreds of Amish Were “Trucked In” To Vote Down a School Budget

Superintendent Claims Hundreds of Amish Were “Trucked In” To Vote Down a School Budget

ByErik Wesner
10 Comments

You’re probably aware that the Amish vote much less often than non-Amish do. But a notable minority still do vote in general elections, and on local matters. So it’s not that odd to hear of Amish people voting. But I’d never seen a story quite like this before. In a new report, a school superintendent in New York is complaining about Amish participation in a…

Indiana Has Over 67,000 Amish — Here Are the 10 Biggest Communities

Indiana Has Over 67,000 Amish — Here Are the 10 Biggest Communities

ByErik Wesner
2 Comments

Indiana is where you’ll find America’s third-largest Amish population, with over 67,000 Amish living across the state. These ten communities rank as the biggest in the Hoosier State, based on the most current population estimates. Note: two communities tie for the #10 spot, so eleven communities appear below. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom)….

Amish Fishermen Caught & Kept a Giant 40-Pound Muskie and Some Are Not Happy About It

Amish Fishermen Caught & Kept a Giant 40-Pound Muskie and Some Are Not Happy About It

ByErik Wesner
6 Comments

A pair of videos have been making the rounds showing an Amish fisherman and a boy – who I would guess is his son – hauling away a giant fish after a successful catch. The fish is a muskellunge, better known as a “muskie” – and you can tell by the way the man is lugging it on his back that it is a hefty…

This Ultra-Functional Amish Home Looks Like a Metal Barn — Workshop Below, Home Above (29 Photos)

This Ultra-Functional Amish Home Looks Like a Metal Barn — Workshop Below, Home Above (29 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
1 Comment

A lot of things are jumping out about this Amish home listing in Guernsey County, Ohio — starting with the fact that you might drive right past it thinking it’s a commercial building. More on that in a minute. As to the locale, this home sits in one of the most Amish-dense counties in the United States (at least when it comes to number of…

Conrad Fisher Turned An Old Church Into A Studio And Helped Send Ben & Rose To 40 Million Views

Conrad Fisher Turned An Old Church Into A Studio And Helped Send Ben & Rose To 40 Million Views

ByErik Wesner
2 Comments

If you’ve been following Ben and Rose, you probably know Conrad Fisher has been part of their story from the beginning — producing their music, playing on their recordings, and showing up in their video clips. The Associated Press recently did a piece which centers on Conrad and Ragamuffin Hall — a former Presbyterian brick church building in the rural Pennsylvania community of McCoysville —…

Amish Horse Collapses On Highway & Falls Into Water — Deputies Help Owner Save It

Amish Horse Collapses On Highway & Falls Into Water — Deputies Help Owner Save It

ByErik Wesner
5 Comments

This sort-of dramatic story with a happy ending comes from an Amish community in the excellently-named Otter Tail County, Minnesota. It turns out that an Amish horse collapsed while traveling on a highway – falling into water of some sort. The details come from a law enforcement roundup report at the Perham Focus: [May 11] 11:40 a.m., Horse reportedly collapsed on the roadway after suffering…

Amish In This Community Invited A 15-Year-Old TikTok Preacher To Deliver A Sermon

Amish In This Community Invited A 15-Year-Old TikTok Preacher To Deliver A Sermon

ByErik Wesner

This story will make you do a double-take. At least, it did me. Last month, Amish in a community in Eaton County, Michigan invited a teenage social media preacher to deliver a sermon to their community. He ended up preaching to a group of over 100 people, from the Amish and other backgrounds. When I saw this story, I had the obvious questions. Who are…

Once-Amish Iowa Man Faces Second Round of Charges Over Unlicensed Clinic — Authorities Say Patients Were Injured & Died, While He Earned $887,000

Once-Amish Iowa Man Faces Second Round of Charges Over Unlicensed Clinic — Authorities Say Patients Were Injured & Died, While He Earned $887,000

ByErik Wesner
9 Comments

A formerly Amish Iowa man is facing charges for the second time — including two felony counts — over an unlicensed rural health facility, which once drew many Amish customers. Authorities are now alleging that patients were injured and died, and that Eddie R. Gingerich collected hundreds of thousands of dollars running the operation. From KTVO: Eddie Gingerich, 36, was arrested on April 22 by…

This North Carolina Amish Home Has One Big Detail Not Seen in 99% Of Amish Homes (31 Photos)

This North Carolina Amish Home Has One Big Detail Not Seen in 99% Of Amish Homes (31 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
2 Comments

Here’s an Amish home in a location you might not expect: Hamptonville, North Carolina (Yadkin County). North Carolina has just two Amish settlements in the entire state. One of them, commonly known as the Union Grove community (about 45 minutes west of Winston-Salem) has been around since 1985. I want to emphasize that this is a horse-and-buggy Amish community. But there’s one detail about this…

The Amish Call It a Frolic. For This Young Family, It Meant Dozens of Helping Hands

The Amish Call It a Frolic. For This Young Family, It Meant Dozens of Helping Hands

ByErik Wesner

After last week’s story of an Amish neighbor unexpectedly returning a favor, Haley Straw returns with a story in a similar vein. Only this time the favor is of the “pay-it-forward” variety – and on a much larger scale. Snuggled warm in bed, hoping to catch up on sleep, my phone rang interrupting a sweet dream. Blurry eyed, I fumbled for my phone thinking, “It…

For The First Time In A Century, The Amish Now Live In This Southern State

For The First Time In A Century, The Amish Now Live In This Southern State

ByErik Wesner
12 Comments

We often think of the Amish as living in the Midwest, and states like Pennsylvania. But Amish communities in the South are nothing new. States like Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee have seen their Amish populations grow robustly in recent decades. However, there’s one part of the South that the Amish have (for whatever reason) not settled — the “Deep South”. The Deep South is most…

2026 Amish Mud Sale Schedule (Lancaster County & More)

2026 Amish Mud Sale Schedule (Lancaster County & More)

ByErik Wesner
13 Comments

The Ultimate Mud Sale Guide | Jump to full 2026 Mud Sale Schedule OR scroll down 2026 Mud Sale Guide (22 Sales) When are the mud sales in Lancaster County? The Lancaster County mud sale schedule for 2026 is now available, with the traditional first event happening soon (February 27 & 28 at Strasburg Fire Company). What is a “Mud Sale”? How did it get…