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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Semi Smashes Buggy, Leaving Horse Dead and Amish Man Seriously Injured

Semi Smashes Buggy, Leaving Horse Dead and Amish Man Seriously Injured

An Amish man has been left with life-threatening injuries, and a horse dead after an 18-wheeler struck a buggy in Ohio’s largest Amish community. More from WKBN: STARK COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) – A crash involving a semi-truck and a horse-drawn buggy hospitalized one man and killed a horse. That’s according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The crash happened just after 4 p.m. on Wednesday…

A Place to Stay (Part 3): Found by the Amish

A Place to Stay (Part 3): Found by the Amish

Author and Amish taxi driver Haley Straw shares part three of a four-part Christmas series. It follows the true story of a young boy from Chicago, whose longing for warmth and belonging sends him on an unlikely winter journey toward an Amish community he’d only read about in a library book. This retelling draws from the original “Please Let Me Stay” account shared in a private family history book….

Amish-Backed Bank Reaches $1.7 Billion In Assets

Amish-Backed Bank Reaches $1.7 Billion In Assets

A popular Amish-backed bank has recently opened its eighth location, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Bank of Bird-in-Hand was founded in 2013 and has proven an unmitigated success story for its customers in the southeastern Pennsylvania region. The bank has made news often in the past – including for its unusual means of reaching its customers – providing a “Gelt Bus” mobile bank to make…

Man & Woman Attempt To Kidnap Amish Boy; Suspects Remain At Large (Ohio)

Man & Woman Attempt To Kidnap Amish Boy; Suspects Remain At Large (Ohio)

It’s happened again. Authorities seek a man and a woman wanted for an attempted kidnapping of an Amish boy – only the latest attempted abduction of an Amish child. This happened yesterday in Gallia County, Ohio, in the southern end of the state. More from WSAZ: GALLIA COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) – Deputies are investigating a reported attempted abduction that allegedly happened Wednesday in Green Township….

This Virginia County Might Be First To Test a High-Tech Amish Buggy Warning System

This Virginia County Might Be First To Test a High-Tech Amish Buggy Warning System

Two months after it was first reported, a high-tech warning system designed to alert drivers to Amish buggies on the roads might be coming to life in one county in Virginia. Reports are that Pittsylvania County, VA might be the first to see this system in use – at least the first in Virginia. It’s unclear if this has been tested or implemented elsewhere. And…

DUI Driver Hits Amish Buggy; It Tips Over & Drags Down The Road

DUI Driver Hits Amish Buggy; It Tips Over & Drags Down The Road

This had to be frightening. The 22-year-old Amish woman inside was dragged down the road (while still inside the buggy, fortunately). Also, fortunately, it turns out she is alright. Yet another bad experience delivered by an (alleged) DUI driver. This one happened in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Here’s more via the Daily Voice: Brad J. Rodarmel, 46, was driving a 2005 Honda Pilot when he tried to…

Inside An Unusual Amish Home – With Its Own Schoolhouse (17 Photos)

Inside An Unusual Amish Home – With Its Own Schoolhouse (17 Photos)

Today’s Amish home is found in Scioto County, Ohio. A standout feature of this Amish property is a second home – which, as we’ll see in the photos, has been used as a schoolhouse for the community (more on why below). Scioto County lies in southern Ohio, right on the border with Kentucky. There are actually two separate, but very small Amish communities in this…

Amish To County: Let Us Build A River Crossing For Our Safety

Amish To County: Let Us Build A River Crossing For Our Safety

This is one you don’t see every day: Amish in a Michigan community want to be allowed to build a river crossing to make buggy travel safer. It’s a project that would otherwise cost the government millions of dollars. But – and here’s the kicker – the Amish want to do it themselves, bypassing red tape. Not only that, they want to cover the full…

A Southern Yankee Meets Amish Winter and Lives to Tell the Tale (17 Photos)

A Southern Yankee Meets Amish Winter and Lives to Tell the Tale (17 Photos)

Twenty years ago, I had the pleasure of spending the night in my pickup truck, heater on blast, in the parking lot of a Middlefield, Ohio, gas station. The reason? A heavy, early-April lake effect snowstorm had caught me off guard while I was in the area selling books. The roads too slick to exit town, and nary a hotel bed to be found, I…

CAUGHT: Man Found & Charged in Hit-and-Run That Killed Amish 16-Year-Old (UPDATE: Wright Pleads Not Guilty; Commits Pretrial Violation By Using Drugs)

CAUGHT: Man Found & Charged in Hit-and-Run That Killed Amish 16-Year-Old (UPDATE: Wright Pleads Not Guilty; Commits Pretrial Violation By Using Drugs)

It’s been a month since Amish teenager Elmer Borntrager lost his life on a Clarke County, Iowa backroad, killed when a driver struck his buggy and fled, leaving him to die on the roadside. A search for the vehicle operator ensued; several days later, his car was found. And now it’s been reported that the driver himself has been arrested. Here are the basic details,…