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 The Home Of A “Musical” Amish Family (21 Photos)

Inside The Home Of A “Musical” Amish Family (21 Photos)

This Amish home lies near the wonderfully-named Summer Shade, Kentucky. There is an Amish community here in Barren County (though the place called Summer Shade technically lies in a neighboring county). These photos show us a pretty traditional Amish home, especially downstairs. Upstairs, we see signs that this is quite a musically-inclined Amish family. The description: What’s special: Amish built farmhouse, large 40 x 80…

Amish Escape Major Injury When Car Hits Buggy Using “Alternative” Visibility Solution

Amish Escape Major Injury When Car Hits Buggy Using “Alternative” Visibility Solution

The good news here: there were three Amish people onboard the buggy, and all three – one adult and two juveniles – are (more-or-less) okay. The accident really caught my attention for another reason (more on that below). It happened yesterday (January 12th) in Ashland County, Ohio, home to several Amish communities. Based on the photos this appears to involve people from the largest settlement…

Pennsylvania State Police Search For Flasher Targeting Amish Women

Pennsylvania State Police Search For Flasher Targeting Amish Women

Some sick person is exposing himself to Amish women in Pennsylvania. This has been going on for months now, apparently. The location is Indiana County, PA, home to over 4,000 Amish people living in several communities. And this isn’t the first time this has happened to the Amish in this general area (more on that below). In these latest occurrences, the suspect targets Amish females…

11-Year-Old Amish Boy Killed While Riding Scooter Near His Home

11-Year-Old Amish Boy Killed While Riding Scooter Near His Home

An 11-year-old Amish boy was killed while riding his scooter on New Year’s Eve in Lancaster County, PA, according to reports coming out over the past two days. More: Christopher Wayne Beiler, 11, of Narvon, died on Wednesday, Dec. 31, after he was struck by a motor vehicle while riding his scooter near his residence in Salisbury Township, according to Shivery Funeral Home in Christiana….

New From Ben & Rose: “On Heaven’s Bright Shore”. And…Are They Still Amish?

New From Ben & Rose: “On Heaven’s Bright Shore”. And…Are They Still Amish?

Ben and Rose are back with their first release of 2026, this one called “On Heaven’s Bright Shore”. There has apparently been more than one song with this general title/chorus. This version we are told was written by a gentleman named Roscoe Reed (not to be confused with another song by that name dating to the early 1900s). They sound great as usual, with Ben’s…

10 Years Later: How The Amish Helped Clean Up After A Devastating Mississippi Tornado

10 Years Later: How The Amish Helped Clean Up After A Devastating Mississippi Tornado

This remarkable article caught my eye this week. Sue Watson, writing for the South Reporter, recalls the cleanup efforts following a devastating tornado strike in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She looks back on the 10th anniversary of the event, which happened in December of 2015 – noting the helping hand extended by Amish and Mennonite volunteers from Pennsylvania. She shares two striking photos as well. We’ve…

12-Year-Old Amish Girl Injured, Horse Killed After Pickup Driver “Drifts” Onto Shoulder

12-Year-Old Amish Girl Injured, Horse Killed After Pickup Driver “Drifts” Onto Shoulder

This happened yesterday in Otsego County, New York. I called an Amish friend living in this area earlier today. He informed me this was someone not from his, but one of the other communities in the county (there are three Amish settlements in Otsego County). Though it’s not his immediate community, he had actually already been to the hospital to visit her. The good news…

This Minnesota County Just Got A First-Of-Its-Kind Buggy Warning System

This Minnesota County Just Got A First-Of-Its-Kind Buggy Warning System

This sounds similar to what’s been under consideration in Virginia, but we see it’s already being put into action in Fillmore County, Minnesota – at least on one stretch of road. Here’s more from a news release from the Minnesota Department of Transportation: CANTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Department of Transportation has installed new flashing driver alert signs to help increase motorist awareness that an…

Woman Killed When Drunk-Driving Former Wrestling Coach Hits Buggy (Lancaster County)

Woman Killed When Drunk-Driving Former Wrestling Coach Hits Buggy (Lancaster County)

The driver is a former local wrestling coach, and this isn’t his first time on the wrong side of the law (more on that below). Police determined that Danial Ranck Miller, 33, was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he struck a buggy yesterday outside Gap, PA, ejecting and killing the woman driving it. From Lancaster Online: Danial Ranck Miller, 33, of Berks…

Amish, Mennonites & Others Come Together To Can 80,000 Pounds Of Chicken For Charity

Amish, Mennonites & Others Come Together To Can 80,000 Pounds Of Chicken For Charity

This month, the only mobile meat canner in the world is making a stop in Goshen, Indiana – an area with a large Amish and Mennonite population. It’s there to be used in a big charity effort which sees hundreds of volunteers pitch in to can chicken meat, destined for locations around the world where meat is hard to come by. This is a Mennonite…