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 A Plain Michigan Amish Farm Home (18 Photos)

Inside A Plain Michigan Amish Farm Home (18 Photos)

Today’s look inside an Amish home comes from Mecosta County, Michigan. This is clearly a plainer Amish dwelling, especially compared to the Kentucky home we saw last week. This farmhouse (listed on Landflip) is set on a large-by-Amish-standards plot of land – 170 acres. There are numerous outbuildings, barns, and even a guest house on this property.   Taking a look inside, let’s start again…

Iowa Bishop Apologizes For Auction With Nearly 500 Attendees

The Amish community at Seymour, Iowa has gotten criticism for a large horse auction held on April 2nd. Close to 500 attendees from seven states came to a trotting horse sale. The event was legally permitted at the time, as reported April 2nd by KTVO: According to the state’s current COVID-19 guidelines, Gingerich was well within his legal rights to host the sale. Livestock auctions…

Amish Minister: Why We Prefer A Short School Year (1966)

Amish Minister: Why We Prefer A Short School Year (1966)

So it looks like a lot of children will be having a short school year this time around, both English and Amish (at least their time physically present in the classroom). But did you know that Amish children traditionally finish school earlier than their English counterparts? In the Lancaster County example, they finish about 3 weeks to a month earlier (mid-to-late May vs. mid-June for…

Do These 3 Photos Show Amish Breaking A Stay-at-Home Order?

Do These 3 Photos Show Amish Breaking A Stay-at-Home Order?

People living in the Geauga County Amish community area have contacted Cleveland’s FOX8 news channel with reports of Amish “gathering for church and parties,” presumably violating the state’s stay-at-home order. Ohio’s stay-at-home order, prohibiting gatherings above 10 people, was issued March 22, to last from March 23 to April 6. Last week it was extended to last until May 1. Several have sent in photos of…

Lancaster Amish Boosting Mask Production; How To Get A Mask (In-Person Pick-Up)

An update to the story of last week on Amish producing 13,000 homemade masks for medical institutions. The news today is the Amish and others involved are scaling up their production to reach more recipient organizations. From Lancaster Online: At first, the goal was to sew 13,000 masks for health providers and patients at Lancaster Health Center to protect against COVID-19. Now, Sylvan Stoltzfus and…

Were These Amish Actually Violating Governor’s Orders? Or Is This A TV Station Hunting For A Story?

Were These Amish Actually Violating Governor’s Orders? Or Is This A TV Station Hunting For A Story?

Iowa has been getting attention as one of the states not officially ordering schools closed during coronavirus. The governor limited it to a recommendation that they close for four weeks, issued mid-March. Here is an article describing it as a “recommendation,” and here is the governor’s own two-minute video statement doing the same. But things have apparently changed in the past several days. Bear with…

5 Types Of Lamps In Amish Homes (22 Photos)

5 Types Of Lamps In Amish Homes (22 Photos)

Some photos in the latest Kentucky Amish home post caught at least one reader’s eye – showing a lamp in an upstairs bedroom which appeared to have a cord. Meanwhile, in the downstairs portion of the home, we saw more traditional examples of Amish lighting. So I thought it would be interesting to share with you examples of different types of lighting in Amish homes….

English Neighbors Object To Amish Wedding

This is one of the few negative stories I’ve seen so far, concerning relations between English and Amish people during the ongoing coronavirus situation. Non-Amish neighbors have complained after an Amish household held a large wedding yesterday in a southern Michigan community. This happened in California Township in Branch County. As you’d expect for an Amish wedding, hundreds of people attended: CALIFORNIA TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB)…

Baked Goods by Mary Mast (Ethridge, Tennessee)

Baked Goods by Mary Mast (Ethridge, Tennessee)

Walking into the auction with the day growing long and things winding down, I knew exactly what I was looking for. When I spotted a stand with baked goods, I beelined over. The stand owner had set up under the porch of one of the farmhouses on the auction property, there in the Ethridge, Tennessee Amish community. I went right to scanning the plentiful items…

How One Amish Store Is Staying Open During COVID-19

How One Amish Store Is Staying Open During COVID-19

Wednesday doughnuts have been canceled for now. But the Community Market in the Amish community at Unity, Maine remains open. Bangor Daily News visited owner Lewis Brenneman’s store to give us a look at how the Amish market is operating during this time of coronavirus. Traffic to the store is down, Brenneman says, but sales have remained steady – probably due to people stocking up…