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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County Spent Hundreds of Thousands on Roads — Amish Traffic Is Damaging Them “Almost Immediately”

County Spent Hundreds of Thousands on Roads — Amish Traffic Is Damaging Them “Almost Immediately”

ByErik Wesner
1 Comment

According to local officials,Amish traffic in Branch County, Michigan has been destroying roads – despite the county spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain them. And unlike in other cases, this goes beyond standard buggy traffic. From the Coldwater Daily Reporter: [Manager Jay] Miller said that despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on Ray-Quincy, Copeland, and Hamman Roads over the last three years,…

This Little Amish Food Stand on a Maryland Back Road Is Worth Pulling Over For (24 Photos)

This Little Amish Food Stand on a Maryland Back Road Is Worth Pulling Over For (24 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
3 Comments

If you’ve followed my stops through the Somerset County, Pennsylvania Amish settlement these past several months – starting at the charming backroad bakery, stopping in at the tiny farm stand, and on to the hidden variety store – we now come to the final Amish business I visited on this wintry mid-December day. And I actually went one state over to reach it. That sounds…

One Month After an Amish Man Was Killed on an E-Bike, Holmes County Faces a Problem With No Easy Fix

One Month After an Amish Man Was Killed on an E-Bike, Holmes County Faces a Problem With No Easy Fix

ByErik Wesner
8 Comments

In early March, an Amish man named Jason Yoder, age 30, was killed in a chain-reaction crash on a Holmes County, Ohio highway while riding an e-bike. The accident – which also left a Good Samaritan in critical condition – has put the spotlight back on safety concerns over the e-bike. As we’ve covered before, e-bikes have skyrocketed in popularity among Amish in the Holmes…

20 Years After The Nickel Mines Amish School Shooting, the Shooter’s Wife Reflects on The Forgiveness That Changed Her Life

20 Years After The Nickel Mines Amish School Shooting, the Shooter’s Wife Reflects on The Forgiveness That Changed Her Life

ByErik Wesner
6 Comments

This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Nickel Mines school shootings, in which five Amish girls were killed, and another five wounded (with a sixth girl passing away years later due to long-term effects of her injuries). BBC Radio 4 has done a program looking back at the incident, and including comments from the shooter Charlie Roberts’ wife, and how she endured the…

Horse Killed When Pickup Attempts To Pass Amish Buggy Turning Left

Horse Killed When Pickup Attempts To Pass Amish Buggy Turning Left

ByErik Wesner
1 Comment

An Amish buggy horse lost its life. But fortunately no people were hurt. It’s a sad case and raises some questions. But I suppose the people involved also have to count their blessings, for it could have been far worse. This incident happened in Gallia County, Ohio on Friday evening. First, from the report at WTAP: RIO GRANDE, Ohio (WTAP) — The Ohio State Highway…

76% of Cause-Reported Amish Buggy Crashes Are The Fault of Car Drivers, New Study Finds

76% of Cause-Reported Amish Buggy Crashes Are The Fault of Car Drivers, New Study Finds

ByErik Wesner
3 Comments

A new report draws attention to a study which found that over 46% of crashes in the study set were caused by “motor vehicle driver error.” Update: That is in all likelihood under-reporting the percentage, as Walter Boomsma points out in the first comment below. Headline has been accordingly updated, and hat-tip to Walter, who notes that when only considering the crashes where causes have…

Ben & Rose: “Mighty to Save”

Ben & Rose: “Mighty to Save”

ByErik Wesner
3 Comments

Ben and Rose have released a song in time for Easter. This is a more contemporary tune, called “Mighty to Save”, originally written and performed by members of Hillsong Church. The description reads: “Ben & Rose sing “Mighty to Save” written by Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan celebrating Resurrection Day!” This one has a bit different feel to it. It kicks off with some nice…

An Amish Home for $180,000: Three Bedrooms, No Bathrooms, and an Exterior Canned Goods Pantry (20 Photos)

An Amish Home for $180,000: Three Bedrooms, No Bathrooms, and an Exterior Canned Goods Pantry (20 Photos)

ByErik Wesner
4 Comments

Here we have an “ultra-basic” Amish home in the Swartzentruber community at Cynthiana, Kentucky (Harrison County). It’s a small, very plain Amish community of under 100 people, and it looks like one of the families here is selling their home and moving away. As in a lot of cases, in these smaller communities Amish will list their homes in hopes of attracting a non-Amish buyer….

Amish Birder Spots Rare Sage Thrasher For First Time Ever In Ohio

Amish Birder Spots Rare Sage Thrasher For First Time Ever In Ohio

ByErik Wesner
1 Comment

If you’re a birder in Ohio, this might qualify as the most exciting thing you’ve heard all week. I’m not a birder, but I still find this story neat – for a few reasons. First, what is a sage thrasher? What was it doing all the way in Ohio, when its habitat is much further west (think Colorado, Utah, Wyoming)? And what is it about…

Sam Shetler in Court: Wants Church Approval Before Hiring a Lawyer

Sam Shetler in Court: Wants Church Approval Before Hiring a Lawyer

ByErik Wesner
2 Comments

Sam Shetler of Mercy and Truth retreat made his first court appearance Tuesday. The Amish man who led the Cooper County, Missouri retreat center was arrested March 25th, and faces charges of trafficking and sodomy. Shetler appeared by video feed, with a number of attendees including Amish people in the courtroom. In this appearance, we learn that Shetler does not yet have a lawyer. He…