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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10 Views Of The Charlotte County, Virginia Amish Community

10 Views Of The Charlotte County, Virginia Amish Community

Going back again through some photos, I realized I still had a lot of shots from my last visits to Charlotte County, Virginia. I’ve already written about this community several times – in posts on an “off-the-map” Amish dry goods store, on Amish phone shacks, and on Esh’s Variety Stand, a little two-day-a-week business selling baked goods, canned goods, and more. I though you might…

An Amish Obituary

An Amish Obituary

Reader Marge asked on our recent Amish funeral customs post, “Why do Amish not publish obits in local newspapers?” I responded that they do in fact appear in local papers. You can quite often find them online. Here is an example: an Amish man named Roman E. Harshberger, 70, of the Nappanee, Indiana community, passed away earlier this week. Roman’s details appeared online in the…

13th Annual Beeville Amish Auction (Bee County, Texas)

13th Annual Beeville Amish Auction (Bee County, Texas)

We once had a monthly Amish auction update thanks to the hard work of one helpful reader, but there are too many of them for me to keep up with on my own. However, from time to time I like to promote upcoming auction events, especially ones you readers keep me posted on. Bob has kindly passed along the following notice of an upcoming auction…

10 Interesting Household Items From A North Carolina Swartzentruber Amish Auction

10 Interesting Household Items From A North Carolina Swartzentruber Amish Auction

The Amish community at Ellenboro, North Carolina is having an auction next month – the first annual sale for the five-year-old Swartzentruber settlement. What’s neat here is that the auction company has taken extensive photos of the things up for sale, posting over 100 photos online. The Amish are not “frozen in time”, as they are often labeled. But if one group of Amish were…

Wisconsin Woman Leaves Amish Community, Starts Successful Bakery (UPDATE: Bakery Unexpectedly Closes; Miriam “Victim Of Domestic Violence”)

Wisconsin Woman Leaves Amish Community, Starts Successful Bakery (UPDATE: Bakery Unexpectedly Closes; Miriam “Victim Of Domestic Violence”)

~ February 2026 Update on Bakery’s Closure & Miriam at Bottom ~ “I did not tell them I was leaving…I left them a note, and left.” Miriam Lambright says that “looking outside, I was like – there’s more there.” Leaving her community meant “freedom.” Miriam left the Amish seven years ago, at age 22. Her story is briefly told in a new video from Milwaukee…

Someone Is Stealing Amish Buggy Signs (Delta County, Michigan)

Someone Is Stealing Amish Buggy Signs (Delta County, Michigan)

Someone is swiping Amish buggy warning signs in Delta County, Michigan. After the latest round of thefts, the total of stolen signs is now four. And this is not just the sign the thief is taking – whoever is doing it, is actually uprooting the post as well – from three feet of concrete. Buggy sign in Delta County, MI. Photo by Clarissa Kell/Escanaba Daily…

Amish Boy Shot & Killed By Sibling – At Least The 12th Accidental Amish Child Shooting Since 2010

Amish Boy Shot & Killed By Sibling – At Least The 12th Accidental Amish Child Shooting Since 2010

An 11-year-old Amish boy was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon by his sibling in the Adams County, Indiana community. Details are vague at this time, but sources are describing it as “accidental”, and I’d assume that to be the case. Images by wpta21.com (update: article has been removed at source) This is just one of numerous shootings involving Amish children and youth over the past…

Amish Plea For Help In Face Of Rendering Plant Stench (Updated)

Amish Plea For Help In Face Of Rendering Plant Stench (Updated)

Amish residents near Berlin, Ohio have been complaining about the odors emanating from a local rendering plant for some time. They’ve now been given an outlet to do so formally – and have taken advantage of it. An “odor hotline” has received around 450 complaint calls since being set up in July. The complaints are going against a local business called Holmes By Products, which…

Jet-Powered “Thunder Buggy” Reaches 60 MPH

Jet-Powered “Thunder Buggy” Reaches 60 MPH

It’s Friday, so how about something light. So, here are a couple of guys who took an Amish buggy and strapped a jet engine onto the back of it. Why not. The two men behind the rocket buggy live somewhere in Amish country and are apparently racing enthusiasts. One of the two bought a jet engine online by mistake (he thought it was “turbo shaft”,…

5 Amish Beliefs From Our Amish Values

5 Amish Beliefs From Our Amish Values

What do Amish believe on evolution? Do they wear jewelry? Why do they practice footwashing? When I was last in Holmes County, I picked up a neat little book by Lester Beachy, called Our Amish Values: Who We Are and What We Believe. Beachy has been a tour guide in the Holmes County Amish community, “something I have enjoyed very much”, as he tells in…