Here’s an Amish home in a location you might not expect: Hamptonville, North Carolina (Yadkin County). North Carolina has just two Amish settlements in the entire state. One of them, commonly known as the Union Grove community (about 45 minutes west of Winston-Salem) has been around since 1985. I want to emphasize that this is a horse-and-buggy Amish community. But there’s one detail about this…
An Amish family in Juniata County, Pennsylvania was involved in an incident Wednesday while dismantling a trailer home. A roof collapsed, pinning a man underneath. This accident was first reported two days ago, with relatively few details. Now a fresh report informs us that the man pinned under the structure has died. From WGAL: WALKER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Juniata County Coroner said the man…
It has been three months since the devastating February 3rd crash in Jay County, Indiana that killed four members of the local Amish community. The crash drew national attention to the question of “chameleon carriers” in the shipping industry. Since the tragedy, there have been several significant developments — including that the semi driver has been formally charged, and the van driver who survived has…
A recent piece by Marjorie Struckle in Lancaster Farming does a good job profiling something that, across the nearly 700 Amish settlements in North America, I suspect is not too uncommon — a rural community where the Amish and their non-Amish neighbors have built something genuinely mutual. The setting is Otsego County in central New York. That county is home to a full three Amish…
A three-year-old Amish boy was seriously injured yesterday afternoon after being run over by a horse-drawn planter on a farm in Centre County, Pennsylvania, as reported by WTAJ. Pennsylvania State Police say the accident happened Monday on Brush Valley Road in Rebersburg. The Daily Voice notes that emergency crews treated the child at the scene before he was airlifted to Geisinger Hospital in Danville, where…
Sam Shetler, the Amish man who led the Mercy and Truth Retreat in Cooper County, Missouri, was indicted by a grand jury Friday — and the indictment includes an upgrade that puts life in prison on the table. This is the latest development in a case we’ve been following since Shetler’s arrest in late March. If you’re new to the story, Shetler was arrested March…
A rear-end crash involving an SUV and a buggy carrying three people in Logan County, Ohio has left one Amish man dead, and two others (likely his sons) hospitalized with critical injuries. From the report at Peak of Ohio: A Saturday morning crash involving an SUV and an Amish buggy has left one man dead and two others critically injured. According to the Logan County…
It’s been about a month since their last release, but Ben and Rose are back with a new song just out this afternoon. After covering a contemporary Christian song in “Mighty To Save“, the Amish-roots couple shift back to country music, striking a somber chord with this cover of a song popularized by Hank Williams – “Lonely Tombs”. Shot in part with the backdrop of…
A young Amish man in the Seymour, Missouri community was tragically killed Sunday in a frankly head-scratching set of circumstances. He was struck while riding his bicycle in the very early hours of the morning – reportedly without lights and traveling on a highway in the middle of the passing lane. From the report at the Webster County Citizen: A 25-year-old man was killed early…
When a call comes into Ripley County, Indiana 911 and New Marion Volunteer Fire Department responds, the scene that follows isn’t one you’d see at most departments. Amish firefighters arrive from the surrounding countryside — on tractors. Their non-Amish crewmates climb into the fire vehicles and drive. Then everyone pulls on the same gear, follows the same protocols, and goes to work side-by-side. Different lifestyles,…