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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One Million Amish By 2050?

One Million Amish By 2050?

The Amish population is growing fast. It’s been growing fast for decades. And that doesn’t seem to be changing. How large will the Amish population get in our lifetimes? On the recent 1950s Amish film post, Lance left a comment that brought this back to mind: In 1900 there were just 5000 total Amish world wide. By this video’s filming, there were 8000 in just…

Look Back In Time: A 1950s Film on the Amish (10 Observations)

Look Back In Time: A 1950s Film on the Amish (10 Observations)

What was Amish life like 65 years ago? Last week I came across a documentary called, simply, “The Old Order Amish”.  This was filmed in Lancaster County and was just recently uploaded to YouTube. It’s on the Periscope Films channel, a company that preserves rare and obscure old films. It’s a fascinating nugget from the past and I recommend watching (it’s viewable at the end…

Runaway Buggy Caught On Camera…Unidentified Man Saves The Day

Runaway Buggy Caught On Camera…Unidentified Man Saves The Day

We’ve noted a lot of runaway Amish buggy stories over the years (most recently in upstate New York), but I don’t believe we’d seen actual video of one before. Until now. A clip shared on a story at the Edmonson Voice (Brownsville, KY) shows footage recorded by someone in a line of traffic behind the buggy. It also shows the bold soul who eventually brought…

Montana Amish Help English Neighbors Restore Washed-Out Road

Montana Amish Help English Neighbors Restore Washed-Out Road

The Amish community in Musselshell County, Montana is one of ten in the state. It is part of a rise in interest by Amish in Montana, one of a half-dozen new settlements created there since 2015. Like most if not all Amish settlements in the Treasure State, this community qualifies as “remote”. It lies near the town of Roundup, so named due to it being…

Five Interesting Finds in an Amish Appliance Store (Eash Sales)

Five Interesting Finds in an Amish Appliance Store (Eash Sales)

Jim Halverson shares several photos of Amish appliances taken in the well-known Eash Sales store in Shipshewana, Indiana. What you’ll see in the photos below are things that help Amish wash clothes, stay warm, stay cool, and light their homes. Some of these are adaptations of the English version of a given appliance. Others are more old-fashioned. Eash Sales is perhaps better-known for its outdoor…

Seven Ways I’m “Amish” About Technology

Seven Ways I’m “Amish” About Technology

How “Amish” are you when it comes to technology? In “We Should Be More ‘Amish’ About Technology“, columnist Tish Harrison Warren examines how over-use of tech (social media in particular) was harming her family life. And she feels that Amish and others like them can be role models on this: American society could learn from Anabaptist groups, including the Amish, Mennonites and others. Many of…

Amish Sing For Baptist Church (Video)

Amish Sing For Baptist Church (Video)

This video is one of the more unusual ones I’ve seen when it comes to Amish singing. This group, described as “Amish youth”, are singing in an “English” church. It’s also clearly a mixed group of Amish from different communities. A commenter states that “this is a diversified group of Amish. Some Old Order PA Amish and regular Old Order Amish.” I’m not sure what…

Amish Baby Loses Life After Driver Attempts To Pass, Hits Buggy

Amish Baby Loses Life After Driver Attempts To Pass, Hits Buggy

A 38-year-old woman attempted to pass an Amish buggy in the Seymour, Missouri Amish community, leading to a collision Tuesday. From KY3: “All three people in the buggy were ejected,” McClure said. Two of the people ejected were Barbara, and Sammy Schwartz, their baby was also ejected from the buggy. “The child was transported from the scene to an area hospital in Springfield where the…

Inside An Amish Ranch Home (Plus Dawdihaus) – 30 Photos

Inside An Amish Ranch Home (Plus Dawdihaus) – 30 Photos

Ranch-style homes are a bit atypical for the Amish, but you will see them here and there. Especially in smaller communities where Amish might be more inclined to buy already-existing English homes. This particular home was built over 40 years ago, but as we’ll see inside and out it has been thoroughly “Amishized”. This is another home in the Oak Hill community in Jackson County,…

Amish Man Permanently Blinded After Teens Throw Eggs at Buggies (UPDATED)

Amish Man Permanently Blinded After Teens Throw Eggs at Buggies (UPDATED)

An Amishman in the Geauga County, Ohio settlement has permanently lost vision in one eye after teens hurled an egg at his buggy. This was apparently part of a spree in which they threw dozens of eggs at different buggies. From Fox8: GEAUGA COUNTY (WJW) — Geauga County sheriff officials charged four teens with assault after an Amish man was hit in the face with…