A 16-year-old Amish boy who walked away from a Lebanon County, Pennsylvania treatment facility last week has been found alive and well, five days after he went missing. Jonas Smucker left Green Pastures, a mental health facility which treats Plain community patients, at around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, November 6. Police located him earlier today (November 11) at a church in Lebanon. From LancasterOnline: Cornwall…
Another story just about too horrible to imagine has claimed a young Amish life, while highlighting the dangers inherent in small family farms. A 6-year-old Amish boy drowned Sunday after falling into a manure pit while visiting a family member’s farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Leon Blank, of Christiana, died on a farm in Salisbury Township near the Chester County line. The Lancaster County Coroner’s Office…
A quick-thinking driver likely saved an Amish horse’s life earlier today – and possibly the lives of other drivers on a well-trafficked Ohio interstate. An Amish horse ran onto the busy highway early Tuesday morning after an SUV struck its buggy in Ashland County, Ohio. But a passing driver used his own car to hold the horse against the guardrail until troopers arrived. The crash happened…
Today Don Burke circles back to tell us more about an Amish business we’ve heard a little bit about before – H&M Country Store – in the Jamesport, Missouri Amish settlement. As you near Jamesport, about half-a-mile south of town, within eyeshot of Oak Grove (Amish) School… …and sandwiched between the Fabric Barn and Countryside Bakery… …is H&M Country Store – an Amish-owned and -operated…
A second suspect has been jailed in the Lawrence County, Missouri vandalism case targeting Amish property. When we first looked at this frankly wild-sounding story Friday, it wasn’t then known if a house that had been burnt down was Amish-owned or not. But now a witness has identified it as such. And a man has been jailed in connection with that crime – one of…
This is a bizarre case out of Missouri with some nasty, dangerous things done to destroy Amish-owned property, including a buggy – and possibly a home. A woman in Lawrence County, Missouri has been charged in a vandalism case that started with a stolen Amish buggy pushed off a bridge into a creek, and that investigators say also involved a house that burned to the…
A nine-week-old girl was seriously hurt yesterday (Friday) morning when her family’s buggy was rear-ended on a state highway in Ashland County, Ohio. The reporting describes what sounds like a serious wreck: “The impact tore the buggy apart, scattering pieces along about 100 feet of roadway and shoulder.” The baby was one of four people in the buggy; she has been hospitalized. Ashland County Pictures…
We’re back in West Virginia for a look at one of the higher-priced Amish properties we’ve seen – a beautiful farm in Randolph County. This property just went on the market two days ago – with an asking price of $1,500,000. That is a lot of money for an Amish property, though we have seen a few seven-figure Amish places here before. There was the…
Holmes County, Ohio is full of e-bike users – many, if not most, of them Amish. We’ve looked at this phenomenon before, such as in one 2024 report describing the community as “ground zero” for e-bikes. The transport tech has gradually been accepted in some of the area’s diverse group of Amish churches. It’s an alternative to the buggy or the hired driver – offering…
Sad story of another young Amish child passing away in what’s being termed a “measles-related” case. An unnamed 7-month-old Amish boy who died Sunday at his home in Lewis County, New York is the state’s first measles-related death in more than 30 years. The New York Times reported the details Tuesday, citing Jeffery Tompkins, who serves as both coroner and district attorney of Lewis County….
After a recent spate of kidnapping attempts of Amish adults and children, one of the perpetrators has now received his punishment. The man who tried to kidnap a 9-year-old Amish boy from a farm stand in Juniata County, Pennsylvania last year is headed to prison. Back in September 2025, a man grabbed the boy while his back was turned, forced him into an SUV, and…
Don Burke has contributed many wonderful images of Amish life here throughout the years. Don has kindly selected some of his favorites to share with us today – and a little bit of the story behind each one. To ask a photographer to pick the favorite picture he has taken is on par with asking a parent which of their children is their favorite. But…
Here’s a little feel-good story that I’ve had on the back burner to share for a little while. A horse owner in Murray, Kentucky kept seeing Amish horses tied to bushes, or left standing where cars drive, in local store parking lots. Now the town’s Lowe’s has set aside a place for them. The Murray Ledger & Times reports that a woman named Rebecca Bagwell…
“By the Mark” is a gospel song which has the feel of an old hymn, but it actually dates to the 1990s. It was written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and first released in 1996 on Welch’s debut album. Now Mike and Marty have released their own version. Brother-in-law Ben of Ben & Rose joins them on mandolin and harmony vocals. Ben last sang…
Following the recent abduction attempt in Pennsylvania, there’s been another try at kidnapping an Amish female – this time in Indiana. A heavily intoxicated man is accused of trying to force an Amish girl into his car at gunpoint outside her home in Salem, Indiana. Thankfully, her father and brothers intervened, and detained him until deputies arrived. The Washington County Sheriff’s Department says 53-year-old Jeffrey…
The man who ran Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana under the name “Brad Juneau” has been arrested in Louisiana – about 10 days after vendors found the attraction’s grounds deserted. ABC57 reports that Michael Loftin was taken into custody in Kenner, Louisiana, on October 29th. ABC57 had previously reported an active warrant for Loftin in Terrebonne Parish for “Issuing of a Worthless Check.” The station’s…
In May of 2025 we learned of charges against a man named John Miller Esh of Strasburg Township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Police said Esh posed as a chiropractor and sexually assaulted women and minors in the Plain community in that role, during “treatments.” I described it at the time as a “stomach-churning” story. There are further details as to what he was alleged to…
A local resident whose home sits next to a fast-growing business in the Nappanee Amish community says officials would have forced the company off farmland years ago – “if [the business] was Amish-owned.” The business in question is called PWI, which builds custom cranes, mezzanines, and other manufacturing support products. Over the years they have experienced a lot of success and corresponding growth. Now, they…
Nora Kurtz is a member of an Old Order Amish church in Geauga County, Ohio, and Director of Operations at the Geauga Amish History Center. She previously shared some favorite dishes from her community. Today she returns with a closer look at what happens at Amish weddings. Weddings across Amish communities share a similar structure but can vary in smaller details unique to each community….
After a three-year search, a descendant has located a roughly 200-year-old Amish cemetery in Holmes County, Ohio, where her fourth-great-grandparents are buried — and it was right where a 1975 directory said it would be. As reported in the Bargain Hunter, a woman named Linda Schrock Schneider managed to find the burial ground of Holmes County pioneers Jacob and Anna Shrock in a stand of…
Federal immigration officials have placed a hold on the New Jersey man accused of trying to kidnap an Amish woman in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania earlier this month. And the Department of Homeland Security says he is in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Junior Davila-Moran, 26, of Hamilton Township, New Jersey on October 19, according to WGAL. Davila-Moran is suspected…
Amish buggies in Barnesville, Ohio can no longer use the village’s historic B&O Railroad tunnel as a shortcut into town. Signs now prohibit horses there, following complaints about manure, as well as safety concerns. This is a community of over 400 Amish people in Belmont County in eastern Ohio, a couple counties southeast of the Holmes County settlement. The tunnel is now part of Barnesville’s…
We’ve heard a lot about Amish disaster relief in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene, which, time flies, happened over two years ago now (September 2024). Amish crews from the Midwest and Pennsylvania have given their time and effort to help rebuild in NC mountain towns like Chimney Rock and Bat Cave. As one female Amish volunteer said at the time, “Our heart just felt drawn…
Don Burke is back with a look at an old favorite – Jamesport, Missouri – and what’s new in the community since his last visit. The Jamesport area is home to one of the state’s larger and best-known Amish settlements. Helping him out again is Laura Graber, who grew up Amish in the community, and even taught in an Amish school for four years. Don…
We now know more about what the person who (allegedly) attempted to kidnap a 23-year-old Amish woman Wednesday did. Learning the details, this had to be a very frightening experience. And the woman’s response may have saved her a lot of trauma and pain, and even her life. It turns out she used a weed whacker to scare off a man carrying a knife and…
A truly disturbing incident happened yesterday in the Lancaster County Amish community, and police are asking for the public’s help. An Amish woman was targeted in an attempted abduction on Wednesday, October 14, along Creek Road southwest of Atglen, Pennsylvania, in Sadsbury Township in Lancaster County. Police are now asking for help finding a gray pickup truck. This is especially disturbing given that this is…
For this latest Amish home we look north of the border – at just the second Canadian Amish home we’ve seen here. The first was a very plain home in the Lucknow, Ontario community back in 2022. This one is in Centre Hastings, about five minutes from the village of Stirling in eastern Ontario. The home is on a roughly 67-acre property, with about 25…
Plain People in Maryland are getting stopped in their tracks by a tech roadblock when trying to pay their taxes. And it’s causing them some real headaches – and expense. Amish and Mennonite families in St. Mary’s County, Maryland are receiving estimated state tax bills as high as $16,000 when they owe around $400 — the result of the state’s move to online-only tax filing,…
A month after a pickup truck struck an Amish buggy outside Canton, New York, killing a grandmother and her young grandson, one woman from the buggy is still in intensive care, and tragically, there has been a third fatal victim – a pregnant woman has lost her baby. The information on these women comes from a neighbor, who spoke to St. Lawrence County lawmakers at…
Ben & Rose have their latest new song out, a cover of “Will You Travel Down This Road With Me?” We’ve been getting a nice steady stream of about one new song per month. At this pace they are basically putting out a new album’s worth every year (which makes me wonder if another is in the works?) This is their first studio release since…
Days after a wreck left two Amish women in critical condition in southern Michigan, another Amish woman is the victim in a buggy crash in the state. But this time it was a deadly incident. A 22-year-old Amish woman was killed Thursday afternoon after a vehicle struck her horse-drawn buggy in Sanilac County. Michigan State Police say the driver reportedly fell asleep at the wheel. From…
It’s been nearly one year since an Amish family’s home and cabinet business in Geauga County, Ohio was invaded and robbed. In it, an Amish man was brutally assaulted, and the perpetrators attempted to kidnap his young son. In a new report following a court hearing yesterday we learn that the taxi driver accused of helping plan the crime will no longer stand trial alongside…
Roberta Devers, a midwife of 38 years who serves many Amish mothers in Lancaster County, wants Pennsylvania to let midwives give the measles vaccine. But that’s something state law does not currently allow. Devers made the request in an interview with 6abc Action News published yesterday. On Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health announced the state has passed 1,000 measles cases this year. Lancaster County…
A Lancaster County, Pennsylvania fire station served over 1,000 Amish wedding dinners on Saturday. It was the 16th year the Intercourse Fire Company has held the fundraiser, which ran from noon until the food sold out. This was another in the long tradition of volunteer fire companies in the area, many of which have heavy Amish and Mennonite representation, funding themselves through benefit events. The…
This is our third look this year at an Amish property in the Randolph community of Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Back in April we toured a 54-acre homestead with a furniture shop, and in June we looked at another home on 45 acres. At that time, I asked whether the community might be disbanding, seeing so many homes go up for sale (four at the time)…
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since the events of October 2, 2006, when a mentally disturbed milk truck driver entered the West Nickel Mines school in Lancaster County and took five Amish girls’ lives. I happened to be on vacation at the time, and still remember how I learned about what happened – seeing the front page news complete with photo of…
If you’re like me, household bills have a way of creeping up on you. A few dollars here, a subscription there…and a year later your monthly tab has ballooned – without any big obvious things having changed. I’m always careful not to recommend “just copy what the Amish do.” There are plenty of problems with that advice, broadly speaking, and Amish communities and families can…
Illinois is home to America’s tenth-largest Amish population. Over 9,000 Amish live in around 20 settlements across the state, though more than six in ten of them live in just one community. These ten communities are the largest in Illinois, based on the most current Amish population estimates. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom)….
This week’s Amish home is located in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. It’s our second look at a home in this area this year, after this eight-bedroom, one-bathroom home back in February. This one is a bit smaller, but not by much. It has six bedrooms and (once again) just one bathroom. It’s a good size and has what the listing calls “oversized” rooms. It’s 3,150 square feet on a…
Jim Halverson is back with another set of photos taking you inside a fun Amish event. These are from the recent Rentown Old Fashion Days in northern Indiana. The event brings together Amish families and others for a day of antique machinery demonstrations, food, vendors, and other old-fashioned activities. Rentown is a small Amish area between Nappanee and Bremen. The name is probably best known…
There are currently two quite well-known Lovinas of an Amish background. Lovina Zook grew up Swartzentruber Amish before leaving the community several years ago. She has since become a social media star for her videos sharing Amish-style cooking recipes (and I’d say for her on-screen persona maybe just as much). We had a look at her online influencer career here several weeks ago. But well…
I’ll start by saying that I love this week’s home. Now, I’m not saying I’d love to live there (let’s just say it’s “very Amish”). But as far as visual appeal of an Amish property goes, this is one of my favorites we’ve seen. Why? One reason is clear without even looking too close at the details: its vibrant color. Reds, blues, purples, set off against warm browns…
Today we’re back with the follow-up to last week’s piece by Haley Straw, “An Amish Department Store Without Walls.” As Haley explains, you never quite know what might catch your eye at an Amish auction. By the time I’d been to the Jamesport (Missouri) Amish School Auction a few times, I had a better idea of what to expect—or at least I thought I did….
The Amish-owned Rustic Ridge Variety Store burned to the ground back in April in a community in Lewis County, Missouri. While it’s hardly a surprise when an Amish community quickly gets on the job of cleaning up and rebuilding, this one seemed ahead of even a typical schedule. Less than a week later came news that the new store had already been framed and was…
Martyrs Mirror, a massive tome telling the stories of 16th-century Anabaptist martyrs, along with earlier Christian ones, is one of the most important books in Amish homes. Now it’s getting a new translation – this time straight from the 1685 Dutch, replacing English that dates to 1886. Hat tip to Al in KY who brought this story in Anabaptist World to my attention. In it,…
To generalize for a moment: Amish children tend to leave a positive impression. Visitors come away remarking how well-behaved they are, how respectful they are when around adults, even how they can seem older than they actually are. The explanation you often hear is strictness. There’s something to that. Amish parents use traditional forms of discipline. But that’s not the whole story. There are other…
The new Amish population figures are just out from the Young Center, and as we always do, let’s have a look at what’s new in the data. I pulled out 5 noteworthy findings from the new info which we’ll take a look at one-by-one below. But first, just to set the table: the Young Center puts this data out once per year, relying on a…
It seems there’s no shortage of curiosity about joining the Amish – especially given the recent “Suddenly Amish” television program. We’ve also covered the topic fairly often over the years here. One thing has been consistently true: while joining the Amish fascinates a fair number of people, it’s simply not that common, for reasons we’ve gone into before. Those include cultural differences, misperceptions or wrong…
Judy Stavisky, author of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women, shares her recent visit to an Amish community on Prince Edward Island, Canada, with us today. All photos in this post by Judy Stavisky. “Would you like to join us for a bowl of ice cream? We churned it ourselves.” A soft voice from behind a thin blue curtain invited us inside—a…
So here’s something you don’t see every day – an Amish benefit auction held at over 7,500 feet, in country with vast views as far as the eye can see. Reader Alan LaFon checks in from an Amish part of America we don’t often hear too much from. These photos come from the annual La Jara Amish School Consignment Auction, held each July in Conejos…
Grocery prices are on a lot of people’s minds lately, and for good reason. The USDA’s moderate-cost food plan has a family of four at around $1,385 a month as of this writing. Scale that up to a household of ten mouths to feed, and you’re well past $2,500. Why do I say ten? Well, that’s an average-sized Amish family – two parents and eight…
So I couldn’t resist commenting on this one. You may have come across slideshow-style “listicle” posts on mass media sites like MSN or AOL. I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately about the Amish (sometimes they link to this website as a source, so no complaints there). Things like “10 surprising technologies the Amish use” or “The 15 largest Amish communities”. Often enough, the…
Four of them are in Indiana. Two apiece in Pennsylvania and Ohio. And one each in Illinois and Missouri. The list of the top 10 largest Amish settlements doesn’t change much from year-to-year. These communities generally have similar steady growth. And relatively few people leaving. Still, I like to do an annual update on the largest communities, with the latest figures. Update 2026: The new…