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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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…

Look Inside A Kentucky Amish Home (20 Photos)

Look Inside A Kentucky Amish Home (20 Photos)

If you passed this home on the road, would you immediately know it was Amish? Some Amish homes don’t look traditionally “Amish,” but are built in styles more reminiscent of English (non-Amish) country homes. But if you stepped inside, you would definitely spot some Amish accents: You can pick up on some characteristic cues looking through photos of this Kentucky home, located in the Munfordville…

New Order Amish Youth Group Singing (4 Songs)

New Order Amish Youth Group Singing (4 Songs)

This is a third Amish singing clip recorded by Phil Sarlo, following three Amish teens singing “The Whippoorwill Song” and Amish schoolchildren singing “The Ninety-Nine”. We have a much larger collection of singers this time – a New Order Amish youth group in the Walnut Creek area of Ohio. There are four songs in this clip, with some really beautiful harmonizing. These are the songs:…

Mt. Eaton Care Center: Over 12,000 Plain Babies Delivered In 36 Years

Mt. Eaton Care Center: Over 12,000 Plain Babies Delivered In 36 Years

Expectant Amish mothers generally have three choices on where to bring their children into the world – at home, at a hospital, or at a birthing center. In larger Amish communities, these centers cater to a Plain population. A new article in the Wooster Daily Record gives us a look at the Mt. Eaton Care Center in Mt. Eaton, Ohio, a place that’s been delivering babies…

Images of Burke’s Garden, Virginia (40 Photos)

Images of Burke’s Garden, Virginia (40 Photos)

Here’s a look at an Amish community that’s among the most isolated of all – the one at Burke’s Garden, Virginia. Some of you will remember I visited this place last Thanksgiving. I actually made two stops in this community – once on the way up to Holmes County, and once again on Thanksgiving morning on the way home to NC. Today’s photos were all…

Sam Mullet Will Be Released To Finish Sentence At Home

Following a motion filed last week by his attorney, beard-cutting clan leader Sam Mullet will be released early due to threat from the novel coronavirus. From the AP: Sam Mullet Sr. was moved to a halfway house in Youngstown on March 4 and was scheduled to be released in January. But his attorney argued in a filing last week that he should be sent home…

Indiana Amish Leaders Meet, Will Continue Church; Bishop: “Don’t let fear rule you”

Indiana Amish Leaders Meet, Will Continue Church; Bishop: “Don’t let fear rule you”

Amish in Holmes County and Lancaster County have closed their schools. Holmes County churches were suspended Sunday. That appears to be the case going forward with Lancaster-related settlements as well. Meanwhile in northern Indiana, children remained in school this week. And now following a meeting of bishops, church will continue as well. From The Goshen News: On Friday night, the bishops in a tri-county area…

Rules Of A Pennsylvania Amish Church (1897)

Rules Of A Pennsylvania Amish Church (1897)

I came across the following list of Amish church rules in a book called Amish Roots: A Treasury of History, Wisdom, and Lore, edited by John A. Hostetler. These were the rules of a church in Mifflin County, PA in 1897, as recorded by a woman named Sadie Newman. Sadie was a convert to the Amish, having worked for an Amish family and joining the…