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 Man Pleads Not Guilty in Amish Woman’s Murder

Amish Man Pleads Not Guilty in Amish Woman’s Murder

The main information here is the headline: Samuel Hochstetler, 18, appeared in court Friday (Meigs County, Ohio) and has pled not guilty in the murder of Amish woman Rosanna Kinsinger, 28. This is reported by WCHS: MEIGS COUNTY, Ohio (WCHS) — An 18-year-old Amish man pleaded not guilty Friday in a Meigs County, Ohio, murder case. Samuel Hochstetler, of Rutland, Ohio, was indicted earlier in…

Lancaster County: 10 Amish-Style Restaurants For Your Next Visit

Lancaster County: 10 Amish-Style Restaurants For Your Next Visit

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania is not just the heart of Amish Country—it’s also a hub for hearty, homestyle cooking rooted in Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. Whether you’re visiting for the first time or returning to explore more, one of the best ways to experience the culture is by sitting down to a meal like the locals do. Here are 10 PA Dutch & Amish-style restaurants worth visiting…

Tornado Disaster Relief: Amish “won’t take no funds”

Tornado Disaster Relief: Amish “won’t take no funds”

Now, those aren’t in fact the words of the Amish. But they are the words of a non-Amish neighbor who understands the Amish well – as a people who reject government aid. This comes following severe weather damage in Wright County, Missouri – one of over a dozen Missouri counties impacted by storms in March and April. The county is home to two separate Amish…

Hundreds of Amish Men Pick Up & “Walk” A Barn (21 Images & Video)

Hundreds of Amish Men Pick Up & “Walk” A Barn (21 Images & Video)

In another remarkable video, a whole lot of Amish people pick up and “walk” a large barn structure to a new location on the property. There aren’t a ton of details given – no explanation of why the barn is being moved. But overall, this might be the most complex Amish barn move I’ve come across – in a long line of them (more on…

Inside A Large Amish Home (with Butcher Shop) ~ 27 Photos

Inside A Large Amish Home (with Butcher Shop) ~ 27 Photos

This week’s Amish home is in the wonderfully-named location of Bliss, New York (Wyoming County). The area is home to a 200-plus person Amish community that hasn’t been there too long – only since 2019. It’s a nice-looking home on a large property – over 60 acres. Like the last New York Amish home we looked at, it’s another home that’s built for a large…

Savory & Simple: 11 Amish Celery Dishes to Make Today

Savory & Simple: 11 Amish Celery Dishes to Make Today

Celery is another garden staple that shows up regularly in Amish traditional cooking. Celery is perhaps most famous as a wedding dish – namely creamed celery, a tradition in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. But that’s not the only place you’ll find celery on the Amish table, as you’ll see by this varied selection of celery recipes. Find one to try at your next family meal! ~Erik…

Police: Man Posing As Chiropractor Sexually Assaulted Amish & Mennonite Women (Lancaster County)

Police: Man Posing As Chiropractor Sexually Assaulted Amish & Mennonite Women (Lancaster County)

This is a stomach-churning story. It is bad news. In some sense it is also “good news” in that this man has been caught and stopped from continuing his (alleged) awful behavior. From Penn Live: A 61-year-old man pretending to be a chiropractor in Lancaster County sexually assaulted multiple women, including minors, during “treatments,” targeting Amish and Mennonites, court documents said. John [Miller] Esh, of…

12 Amish Dandelion Recipes to Celebrate Spring

12 Amish Dandelion Recipes to Celebrate Spring

The Amish are known for making good use of a plant many of us consider just another weed: the humble dandelion.   Did you know that the entire dandelion plant is edible? Well, the Amish do. That includes flower, leaves, stem, and even roots. You’ll see that reflected in this diverse list of recipes, ranging from dandelion salads to beverages (dandelion root coffee) to alternative takes…

Amish Country Bakery Manager Killed By 3-Time DUI Driver

Amish Country Bakery Manager Killed By 3-Time DUI Driver

This is a sad – and maddening – story about a special employee of a bakery that we’ve covered here on the site before. Schlabach’s Bakery has been in business since 1970. It’s located in the area of the “electric New Order” Amish community at Guthrie, Kentucky (Todd County). From what I’ve heard, it was Amish-founded, but is not currently Amish-owned (though it has stayed…

The Amish Wedding: What does it mean when a couple is “published”?

The Amish Wedding: What does it mean when a couple is “published”?

You may have hear the term “published” used about Amish couples planning to be married. But what does it mean to be “published”? Amish mother and author Lovina Eicher explains in her latest Lovina’s Amish Kitchen column: Yesterday daughter Verena and Daniel Ray were “published” to be married on June 20. For the readers that wonder what published means, I will explain. When a couple…