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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Should Amish Buggies Have Car Safety Features – Like Seat Belts? (Updated: Ordinance Fails)

Should Amish Buggies Have Car Safety Features – Like Seat Belts? (Updated: Ordinance Fails)

ByErik Wesner
64 Comments

Should Amish be required to install seat belts and other safety features common to motor vehicles? That’s the idea behind a new ordinance up for consideration tomorrow in Wood County, Wisconsin: Horse-drawn vehicles would need windshields, seat belts, child car seats and rear-view mirrors if officials in Wisconsin’s Wood County pass an ordinance that will be considered Tuesday. Amish and other religious groups that rely…

Who Left Diane Bell on an Amish Porch 40 Years Ago? Abandoned Baby Mystery Answers Coming Tonight (Updated)

ByErik Wesner
12 Comments

Diane Bell’s story sounds like something from a novel or a Hallmark holiday film. Diane was left on an Amish porch as a 3-month-old, over 40 years ago. Her story was told in an article featured in Lancaster Online which we looked at here last year. From the original article: Forty years ago, a widowed Amish woman and her daughter watched from their window late one night as…

How do Amish care for non-Amish foster children?

How do Amish care for non-Amish foster children?

ByErik Wesner
11 Comments

Interesting column this week from Gloria Yoder. Gloria, an Amish mother from southern Illinois, writes the Amish Cook column. It’s not unusual to find Amish serving as foster families for non-Amish children. When I sold books in Amish communities, I would bump into these situations from time to time. This week Gloria answers several questions on fostering among the Amish. The Yoders are foster parents in addition to…

Inside a Swartzentruber Amish Home (Video)

Inside a Swartzentruber Amish Home (Video)

ByErik Wesner
28 Comments

We’ve previously seen video footage from within a Lancaster Amish home, as well as photos from inside homes of the very plain Swartzentruber Amish. But this is the first video I’ve come across showing the interior of a Swartzentruber home. In the video below, LaVonne DeBois of Heartland Tours gives us a look inside the home of a family she is obviously well-acquainted with. It’s not common…

Guest Post: Friend, or Facebook Friend?

Guest Post: Friend, or Facebook Friend?

ByErik Wesner
13 Comments

How many social media friends do you have? And how many would you also consider “real-life” friends? I have some who fit both categories. But with hundreds of online connections, it’s literally impossible to keep up, in a meaningful way, with everyone. Jeff Smith, who wrote Becoming Amish on the conversion journey of Bill and Tricia Moser (see posts on the 6 richest aspects and 5 challenges of…

Amish Settle York County, PA, in “New Model” of Migration

Amish Settle York County, PA, in “New Model” of Migration

ByErik Wesner
12 Comments

Lancaster Online reports that a new Amish settlement has been founded in Lancaster County’s next-door neighbor, York County. Why is this news? It’s notable because it’s the first example of a new, more deliberate strategy of creating Amish settlements. Amish have actually lived in York County for quite some time. But these Amish have been considered a part of the greater Lancaster County settlement (which also…

Yoder’s In Pinecraft Makes 8,000 Thanksgiving Pies

Yoder’s In Pinecraft Makes 8,000 Thanksgiving Pies

ByErik Wesner
13 Comments

Yoder’s is a well-known Amish-style restaurant in the Pinecraft Amish community of Sarasota, Florida. I had a chance to sample several of their fine pies in a visit several years back (peanut butter chocolate, coconut, and the key lime). You can see that and many other photos of the Pinecraft community here. Yoder’s pies are yummy – guests from far away spots like Atlanta and Michigan…

Amish Gene Mutation May Extend Lifespan By 10 Years

Amish Gene Mutation May Extend Lifespan By 10 Years

ByErik Wesner
9 Comments

Amish carriers of a gene mutation live about 10 years longer on average than others in their community without the mutation. They also appear to be “completely protected from the development of diabetes”, according to the study’s lead researcher. This story is going around the internet like gangbusters now. The discovery was made by scientists from Northwestern University: The first genetic mutation that appears to…

Amish Moving To Fourth Canadian Province

Amish Moving To Fourth Canadian Province

ByErik Wesner
8 Comments

The Winnipeg Free Press reports that Canada will soon have a fourth province with an Amish presence. Amish from Ontario are buying land and planning to settle in Manitoba, about 100 miles south of province capital Winnipeg, in the Rural Municipality of Stuartburn: Swidersky estimated about 100 Amish may settle there, mostly young families starting out. There are already highway signs featuring a horse and buggy…

Amish Help Rebuild English Friend’s Buildings

Amish Help Rebuild English Friend’s Buildings

ByErik Wesner
5 Comments

A nice feel-good story out of northwestern Minnesota: GLYNDON, Minn. — A fire destroyed multiple buildings at Andy Lake Woodworks in May. Now a group of Amish workers are bringing out all of their tools to help owners of the business rebuild. Andy Lakes Woodworks has risen from the ashes, and it’s all thanks to the Amish for paying it forward. Six years ago, the…