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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A 122-Acre Amish Farm For Sale (16 Photos)

A 122-Acre Amish Farm For Sale (16 Photos)

After last week’s 40-acre Wisconsin farm, this week, another Amish farm that is still on the market. This one lies in Cattaraugus County, New York, home of three Amish communities, including one of the largest in the state. This appears to be Conewango Valley, home to around 2,500 Amish. One thing is for certain, they have a beautiful property here: The listing at realtor.com has…

Amish Cook Gloria Yoder On Her Van Accident

Amish Cook Gloria Yoder On Her Van Accident

We learned last week that Amish Cook Gloria Yoder was in a vehicle accident described as “serious”. She re-emerges this week with a column on what happened. Gloria was in a van with other ladies from her church on a thrift shopping trip when this happened: Moments later, the driver had my full attention as she verbalized an anxious, “Ohhh!!” I took it all in…

Lydia Stoltzfus Shares Her Scrap Quilts (Video)

Lydia Stoltzfus Shares Her Scrap Quilts (Video)

Here’s a video from Daniel Stoltzfus, of his wife Lydia discussing and sharing some of her scrap quilts. They are not in an Old Order Amish church, but grew up in one. I always love hearing this accent. Daniel and Lydia are parents to Lillian Stoltzfus, who passed away this summer at age 46. You can see Lillian in this video as well. At the…

9 Ways Amish Women’s Lives Have Changed

9 Ways Amish Women’s Lives Have Changed

How have Amish women’s lives changed in the last 50 years? Fran Handrick recently completed a PhD  entitled “Amish women: work and change – an investigation into the lives of Amish women in Pennsylvania and Ohio” at the University of Birmingham. Fran is here to share some things she learned with us today – specifically nine areas where she discovered Amish women’s lives have changed,…

German Lutherans to Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story (Interview & 2-Book Giveaway)

German Lutherans to Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story (Interview & 2-Book Giveaway)

Nic Stoltzfus (S. Nicholas Stoltzfus) is a 10th-generation descendant of Nicholas Stoltzfus, one of the best-known figures in Amish and Anabaptist history. Nic is also the author of a book released last year on his ancestor’s family: German Lutherans to Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story. The Stoltzfus surname is one that most who know the Amish are well-acquainted with, as it is the most…

Wisconsin Amish Farmhouse For Sale (14 Photos)

Wisconsin Amish Farmhouse For Sale (14 Photos)

While I often share Amish homes which are already off the market, here is one that is for sale right now. This farmhouse on 40 acres of land is found in Marathon County, Wisconsin, in a small two-district settlement. It’s four bedrooms and one bath. As you look through the photos, see if you can guess the price, which I’ll share at the end. There…

Amish in Gallia County, Ohio: We Don’t Vote, But We Like Trump

Amish in Gallia County, Ohio: We Don’t Vote, But We Like Trump

Gallia County is way down in southeastern Ohio on the West Virginia border. I visited back in 2013 – it’s well off the beaten track, but a pleasant place by my impression, with some beautiful hilly country. There are two Amish settlements in this county, one of five church districts and the other of two. A writer named Jason Williams did something rather unusual: he…

Amish Cook Gloria Yoder In Car Accident

Amish Cook Gloria Yoder In Car Accident

Amish Cook Gloria Yoder‘s editor Kevin Williams has filled in on her column this week for an unfortunate reason: Gloria was involved in a serious accident on the road. But this wasn’t a buggy accident, as you might be thinking. Kevin describes what happened: I wanted to reach out to readers this week in place of Gloria. Gloria and two of her children were involved…

Are These “Fake Amish”? (Updated: Not Fake)

The Amish are in the news again, this time as a backdrop to a speech given by President Trump in Lititz, Pennsylvania yesterday. You can see several young Amish-looking fellows in this clip below. This has gotten some strong reaction online, with multiple people claiming they are “fake Amish” or even “paid actors”. Jump to Update Hey people. Just an FYI – these are fake…

Four Amish Wedding Songs

Four Amish Wedding Songs

In some Amish communities, such as Lancaster County, the traditional wedding season is the autumn months following harvest, spanning from late October, through November, and into December. In other communities (and for that matter, in Lancaster County as well), that tradition has given way to weddings happening at other times of the year, such as May or June. But with the traditional wedding season arriving,…