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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Amish Male Names: 10 Common & 10 Rare Ones

Amish Male Names: 10 Common & 10 Rare Ones

What would you say are the most common Amish men’s names? As we saw in the Amish Name Game post, names repeat themselves among the Amish–not just surnames, but first names as well. Unsurprisingly, Biblical names are popular among the Amish, both from the Old and New Testament. Some given names, however, have little or no connection with the Bible. Below, you’ll find ten men’s and boys’ first names frequently…

Submission and Responsibility in Amish Marriage

Submission and Responsibility in Amish Marriage

What are the benefits and pitfalls of a marriage based on Biblical concepts of submission? Jim Cates is back today with part 3 of his series on Amish women, with a look at submission in marriage. If you missed them, you can also catch up with part 1 and 2 of Jim’s posts on Amish women. Submission and Responsibility Stanley Milgram was an unassuming man whose studies…

In Meiner Jugend: A Devotional Reader in German and English

In Meiner Jugend: A Devotional Reader in German and English

A few months ago we shared excerpts from 1001 Questions & Answers On The Christian Life, a small but broad book outlining Amish beliefs. I think many readers appreciated that look at Amish Christian thought and practice. For example, one reader commented on 1001 Questions that “These answers are not just for the Amish. Every Christian should read this book.” Another described it as “a wonderful book to help on…

5 Amish Communities I Want to Visit

5 Amish Communities I Want to Visit

For various reasons, I haven’t visited many Amish settlements lately. I managed just one trip in 2014 (though to a nice place). But my recent visit to a new–for me–community (Somerset County, PA) reminded me how much I enjoy visiting new Amish places. A little while ago I even put together a short list of settlements I’d like to visit. When I recently asked for your ideas, Al in KY suggested the same…

Amish-Backed Bank of Bird-in-Hand Doing Well

Amish-Backed Bank of Bird-in-Hand Doing Well

Are you surprised that the Amish-backed Bank of Bird-in-Hand has (so far) been a success? According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, the bank has amassed more than $60 million in loans in its first year of business. In 2013, Bank of Bird-in-Hand was reported to be the first new US bank since 2010, when the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law was enacted. Now in 2015, it’s…

The Language of the Hutterites

What do Hutterites speak? The Anabaptist cousins of the Amish communicate in a German dialect, but it differs from what you hear from the Amish. Manitoba Hutterite Linda Maendel explains her native tongue in today’s post. — Hutterisch – the Mother Tongue of the Hutterites Hutterisch, as Hutterites fondly call their language, is the Carinthian German dialect spoken by all Hutterites in Canada and the United States and some…

5 Occasions When Amish Sing

5 Occasions When Amish Sing

“Give me gas for my Ford, keep me truckin’ for the Lord!” That’s not a line you expect to hear in a song sung by Amish people. But that’s what I heard while visiting Amish last week in Lancaster County. I was being entertained by a friend’s children, who put on an impromptu concert one evening, helped along by their father. They had learned the line…

The Amish of Somerset County, PA (25 Photos)

The Amish of Somerset County, PA (25 Photos)

I paid a visit to Somerset County, Pennsylvania on my “way home” from last week’s stay in Lancaster County. I have “way home” in quotes here because it required a 3-hour detour west down the PA Turnpike in a snowstorm. But I was determined to get there. This had been a place I’d wanted to visit for a long time. Luckily road conditions weren’t slick,…

Moving a Skid House in Amish New York (17 Photos)

Moving a Skid House in Amish New York (17 Photos)

Just what is a skid house? And why would you want to move one? Karen Johnson-Weiner explains below, complete with photos of a skid house being loaded and moved in a Swartzentruber Amish community in upstate New York. — A “skid house” is the equivalent of a mobile home for more conservative Amish. It is built—on wooden skids—so that it can be taken apart and moved….

5 Common Features in Amish Homes

5 Common Features in Amish Homes

Last week’s look inside an Amish home drew quite a few comments, here on the website and on our Facebook page. Some of you felt the home was beautiful. One commenter “love[d] the simplicity.” Others felt the home looked “a little fancy for Amish”. It made me realize we all have different ideas of what an Amish home “should” look like. But the Amish, as tends to be…