Author: Erik Wesner

Erik Wesner is the creator of amishamerica.com, and author of Success Made Simple: An Inside Look At Why Amish Businesses Thrive. Erik began visiting Amish communities in 2004 – eventually meeting thousands of Amish families while selling books.

He began writing about the Amish on this website in 2006, and is often cited in national media, including USA Today, The New York Times, and others on a wide range of Amish topics. A native of North Carolina, Erik has visited dozens of Amish communities across the country, and loves spending time with Amish friends and discovering new Amish places.

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Inside 118-Year-Old Yoder Hardware & Lumber (16 Photos)

Inside 118-Year-Old Yoder Hardware & Lumber (16 Photos)

The Hutchinson News gives us a look inside Amish-owned 118-year-old Yoder Hardware & Lumber in Yoder, Kansas: Yoder Hardware sits at the center of this town whose population fluctuates at around 200. Like the hardware store’s owner, much of the population in Yoder is Amish. Because of the local presence of both Amish and Old Order Mennonites, the hardware store carries items that cater to…

Anna Schrock: More On Growing Up In The Lancaster County New Order

Anna Schrock: More On Growing Up In The Lancaster County New Order

Anna Schrock continues with part two on her time as part of the Lancaster County New Order Amish. If you missed part 1, you can find that here. Beautiful Farms & Simple(?) Living As you drive through the Lancaster County countryside, you may notice that most of the farms and homesteads are very neat looking. Yards are neatly manicured, and the landscaping is breathtaking. It…

Inside An $85,000 Amish Home & Store (25 Photos)

Inside An $85,000 Amish Home & Store (25 Photos)

We return to Kentucky for this week’s Amish home. This is an interesting set – we get a look at both a plain home, and inside a simple variety/food store. So this is another 2-in-1, so to speak. You get a store building in the deal (though I assume not the contents of it – and not all under one roof, like in the recent…

Wisconsin Teen Loses Life In Buggy Accident

A second young Amish person has perished in the span of a week. This accident happened in western Wisconsin. The accident occurred on February 18th, but it seems the news report just emerged yesterday. Two teens were riding in the buggy; one was killed: A pickup struck an Amish horse-drawn buggy in western Wisconsin and killed one of two teenage passengers, authorities said Thursday. The…

The New Order Amish in Lancaster County

The New Order Amish in Lancaster County

Anna Schrock has an unusual backstory for a person who grew up Amish. Her family was a part of the New Order Amish movement in Lancaster County. The New Order Amish are primarily associated with Ohio, and particularly Holmes County (though today there are communities in quite a few other states). As the Ohio New Orders emerged in the 1960s, there was another New Order…

A Dozen Amishmen Collect Ice From A Frozen Pond (14 Photos)

A Dozen Amishmen Collect Ice From A Frozen Pond (14 Photos)

These near-perfect photos by David Marvitz almost look like something staged or taken from a film. Actually, the scenes remind me of some of Bill Coleman’s masterpiece photos taken in the Big Valley of central PA, which have a similar quality. But these are real Amish at work – cutting and collecting ice in the Hazleton, Iowa community. The ice will be used for cooling…

20-Year-Old Killed In North Country (NY) Buggy Crash

20-Year-Old Killed In North Country (NY) Buggy Crash

This fatal accident happened very early Sunday morning – in reality, more likely the tail end of Saturday night: GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. — A North Country man was killed in a crash after the horse-drawn Amish buggy he was riding was hit by an SUV, according to State Police. Troopers say the accident happened around 5:15 a.m. on Sunday on US Highway 11 near Bristol Road…

Inside An Amish Home With A Picture-Perfect Interior (21 Photos)

Inside An Amish Home With A Picture-Perfect Interior (21 Photos)

From the outside, this Pennsylvania Amish home is neat and tidy but not particularly remarkable: But inside, the photos are some of the nicest I’ve seen of an Amish home interior: I think that’s in part due to the quality of the photography, but the home is very neat with a lot of nice woodwork and furniture, crisp colors, and has a classic Amish look…

Amish Boy Helps Twin Brother Following Severe Burns (2016)

Amish Boy Helps Twin Brother Following Severe Burns (2016)

This story via WKYC actually dates back over four years. I came across it recently while searching for something else, and was moved to want to share it with you. It’s a remarkable story of one 11-year-old Amish boy helping his twin brother, who was severely burned in a fire. This happened in Holmes County in the spring of 2016: While John was in the…

Lovina Eicher On Losing Sister Susan

Since mid-January, Lovina Eicher’s sister Susan has been in the hospital battling serious health issues. In her most recent Lovina’s Amish Kitchen column, she shares about her sister’s passing. It’s frankly heartbreaking: Yes, the good Lord has knocked on our door again … Those words are from a song cousin Ernest wrote after losing his mother and brother in accidents years ago. Those words came…