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 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…

Amish Mother Ruth Miller Back In Court as Legal Teams Debate Jury Guidance Ahead of March Murder Trial

Amish Mother Ruth Miller Back In Court as Legal Teams Debate Jury Guidance Ahead of March Murder Trial

Ruth Miller – the Amish mother facing aggravated murder, among other charges, in her four-year-old son’s August drowning death – was in court yesterday for a pre-trial hearing which lasted about a half-hour. Miller’s trial is scheduled to begin March 4th, so just about two months from now. There was not a ton of headline-grabbing news made, though one important issue was addressed (and except…

Amish Buggy Totaled in Pre-Dawn Crash; Somehow Amish Man & Children Walk Away

Amish Buggy Totaled in Pre-Dawn Crash; Somehow Amish Man & Children Walk Away

Somehow no one was injured in this early-AM crash yesterday in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Looking at the photos, you’d expect otherwise, seeing the heavily-damaged buggy on the roadside. From the Vernon Reporter: WESTBY, Wis. — Authorities say no one was injured when a pickup truck struck a horse-drawn buggy early Saturday in rural on U.S. Highway 14 yesterday. The crash happened around 5:15 a.m. on…

What’s the Deal With “Suddenly Amish”? 4 Key Questions Before the Premiere

What’s the Deal With “Suddenly Amish”? 4 Key Questions Before the Premiere

You may have heard there is another Amish-themed TV program releasing soon – “Suddenly Amish” – on TLC. Here’s the show summary: TLC’s all-new series SUDDENLY AMISH follows six non-Amish individuals on a rare journey as they leave behind their modern “English” lifestyle and step into a deeply traditional Amish community in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Seeking a profound change from their present way of modern life,…

Inside An Amish Home On The “Wild Side” (27 Photos)

Inside An Amish Home On The “Wild Side” (27 Photos)

This is how this Kansas Amish home’s description opens – and why I couldn’t pass up describing it likewise: “Escape to the wild side and live on your own terms with this rugged 50-acre off-grid farm in central Osage County”. Osage County, KS is a sparsely-populated place, and true to the pitch, the property enjoys abundant wildlife – as shown in a series of accompanying…

Ohio Thrift Shop Raises Thousands For Amish People With Special Needs

Ohio Thrift Shop Raises Thousands For Amish People With Special Needs

Save & Serve is a special kind of store – a nonprofit operation whose earnings are directed to benefit various outreach projects, supporting the Mennonite Central Committee’s mission. Based in Millersburg, Ohio, it’s a thrift shop selling a “curated selection of gently-used items”, according to its website. Founded in the mid-1970s, they’ve been at it for over half a century now. Periodically, Save & Serve…