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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Slice Of Amish Life: End Of The Commons

Slice Of Amish Life: End Of The Commons

In today’s Slice of Amish Life, an Amishman approaches the End Of The Commons General Store in the Geauga County, Ohio community, with what looks like his daughter in tow. This is not an Amish business, and has more of a touristic feel. But I would suppose it’s one that Amish living nearby would visit as well. It is in fact the oldest general store…

Suspicious Couple Visit NY Amish Home, Attempt To Lure 13-Year-Old Girl Into Car

Suspicious Couple Visit NY Amish Home, Attempt To Lure 13-Year-Old Girl Into Car

A disturbing story reported yesterday out of upstate New York: TOWN OF DEKALB, N.Y. (WWNY) – State Police are investigating suspicious incidents just outside the St. Lawrence County village of Richville last Wednesday. Troopers said a man and woman reportedly pulled into the driveway of an Amish household on Welch Road, where a sign was posted about rabbits for sale. According to police, a 13…

Amish Peach Harvest (Video)

Amish Peach Harvest (Video)

Pennsylvania peach season is just getting into full swing. This is a nice simple video of an Amish family bringing in a haul of peaches, to be sold at their farm market.  In the video we see two children and presumably their father gathering peaches and moving them around in a horse-drawn wagon. The man uses a handy harness and box to collect the…

Man Who Defrauded Mennonites & Amish In $60 Million Scheme Sentenced To 10 Years

In February we posted about Philip E. Riehl, a now-excommunicated Mennonite man who defrauded Mennonite and Amish investors to the tune of $60 million, in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in state history. Riehl was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison. From the Allentown Morning Call: BERKS COUNTY — An accountant who promised safe investments for his Mennonite and Amish clients but…

An Amish First Date

An Amish First Date

Amish Cook columnist Gloria Yoder just had a baby boy and is off for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, editor Kevin Williams chose a nice old column of Gloria’s to run while she’s on break – on how she and her husband Daniel began dating. First, Gloria describes the dating norms in her Illinois New Order Amish community: I’ll first give you a…

Inside A 5,500 1,840 ??-Square-Foot Amish Home (23 Photos)

Inside A 5,500 1,840 ??-Square-Foot Amish Home (23 Photos)

Update 2: Scratch the below update, I should not have stated it so confidently. I have no idea how large this home is, but now on third look I would say it is larger than 1,840 square feet and maybe the first number was in fact correct. I’ll add something further I learned on basements as that was part of the discussion (source): Below grade…

New Images Of Smoker’s Car; Police Ask 5 Lancaster Townships For Home Surveillance Footage (Updated)

New Images Of Smoker’s Car; Police Ask 5 Lancaster Townships For Home Surveillance Footage (Updated)

I just watched a press conference on the Linda Stoltzfoos disappearance, which concluded less than an hour ago. Four people spoke – the Lancaster County DA, East Lampeter PD Chief, a PA State Trooper, and an FBI agent on the case. Lancaster County DA Karen Adams repeated that they still have reason to believe Linda was harmed. She emphasized that Justo Smoker’s car is distinct,…

Pony Cart Driven By 8-Year-Old Struck In Holmes County; 3 Children Seriously Injured, 1 Killed

From the Akron Beacon Journal: RIPLEY TWP. — Four children were seriously hurt Wednesday after a collision between an Amish pony cart and a vehicle. The crash occurred around 11:10 a.m. on County Road 329 at Township Road 524, according to a news release by Holmes County Sheriff Timothy Zimmerly. Sheriff’s deputies say a 56-year-old Shreve man was westbound on County Road 329 in a…

The 3 Biggest Road Safety Dangers – According To Ohio Amish

The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) has completed an extensive study – the Statewide Amish Travel Study – examining road safety in the Buckeye State. The study is presumably the precursor to safety improvement projects for the state’s 70,000+ residents who travel by horse-and-buggy. The study found that over 700 accidents occurred on Ohio’s state routes from 2009-2018. Of those accidents, about 350 resulted in…

Amish Singing On Amtrak (Video)

Amish Singing On Amtrak (Video)

This video is titled “Amish Singing On Amtrak”. The quality is passable though not great. But I couldn’t pass up sharing it. This video combines two themes seen here in recent months – Amish singing and Amish on trains. The men singing do appear to be Amish. I count at least three of them. The only detail the uploader put in the video description is…