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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Driver Who Fled Amish Buggy Crash That Injured Pregnant Woman Pleads Guilty; Arrested Again For Drunk Driving

Driver Who Fled Amish Buggy Crash That Injured Pregnant Woman Pleads Guilty; Arrested Again For Drunk Driving

ByErik Wesner
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Another ending of sorts, this one on a story out of Williams County, Ohio ​we’ve been following since November. The driver who injured Martha Wagler, a 27-year-old Amish woman, and her two children in a hit-and-run crash last fall has taken a plea deal. As we covered back in November and again in December, Wagler’s buggy was struck from behind on November 12 in her community. The driver…

A Little Amish-Founded Clinic Has Identified More Rare Genetic Disorders Than Any Other. These 2 August Auctions Support It

A Little Amish-Founded Clinic Has Identified More Rare Genetic Disorders Than Any Other. These 2 August Auctions Support It

ByErik Wesner
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Auctions To Support The DDC Clinic Are Happening in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania (August 7) and Middlefield, Ohio (August 28) Two benefit auctions this August support the DDC Clinic in Middlefield, Ohio – an Amish-founded nonprofit that has identified more rare genetic disorders than any clinic in the world. In the late 1990s, a group of Amish mothers in Geauga County, Ohio – whose special-needs children met…

Kentucky Is America’s #8 Amish State — Here Are Its 10 Biggest Communities

Kentucky Is America’s #8 Amish State — Here Are Its 10 Biggest Communities

ByErik Wesner

Kentucky is home to America’s eighth-largest Amish population. Over 16,000 Amish live in more than 50 settlements across the state. These ten communities are the largest in Kentucky, based on the most current Amish population estimates. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom). 1. Munfordville Munfordville (Hart County) Community founded: 1989 Total Amish population: 2,525…

The Amish “Black Box” Phone: The Device They Built to Keep Big Tech Out

The Amish “Black Box” Phone: The Device They Built to Keep Big Tech Out

ByErik Wesner
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Looking at its name alone, the Amish Black Box Phone has an air of secrecy or mystery to it. Is it some sort of clandestine Amish spy-ops device? A tool meant for conveying bad news? Of course, many of us will connect “black box” with the recording devices used to record communication in plane crashes, another morbid association. But it’s none of those things. Rather,…

New From Ben & Rose: “How Great Thou Art”

New From Ben & Rose: “How Great Thou Art”

ByErik Wesner
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Ben & Rose are back, this time covering a hymn beloved by many. “How Great Thou Art” went up on YouTube yesterday, their first new song since “Stroll Over Heaven” at the end of June. The hymn has an interesting history. It started life as a Swedish poem, “O Store Gud,” written by Carl Boberg in 1885, reportedly after he was caught out in a…

Amish Man Pleads Guilty To Murder Of Amish Woman Rosanna Kinsinger, Sentenced To Life in Prison

Amish Man Pleads Guilty To Murder Of Amish Woman Rosanna Kinsinger, Sentenced To Life in Prison

ByErik Wesner
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A very sad and awful story is now coming to an end of sorts, as Samuel Hochstetler has pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in the death of 28-year-old Amish woman Rosanna Kinsinger. Kinsinger was found dead in her Meigs County, Ohio home back in March 2025. Hochstetler, 18 at the time, was arrested and charged nearly two months later in the crimes. After a series…

Missouri Has Gained 21 New Amish Settlements Since 2015 — More Than Any Other State

Missouri Has Gained 21 New Amish Settlements Since 2015 — More Than Any Other State

ByErik Wesner

We pretty regularly feature posts on the Amish in Missouri on this site. So it’s probably no surprise to many readers that it is the #7 state when it comes to total Amish population. In a new piece on Amish in the state, the Columbia Missourian draws attention to another noteworthy Missouri Amish statistic. Namely, that the Show Me State has added more communities than…

This Idyllic Ohio Amish Homestead Has 3 Barns, an Icehouse, and Its Own Creek (35 Photos)

This Idyllic Ohio Amish Homestead Has 3 Barns, an Icehouse, and Its Own Creek (35 Photos)

ByErik Wesner

This Amish home listing in Frazeysburg, Ohio contains the description “some of the most beautiful farm ground you can imagine.” Hard to argue after seeing these lovely photos. The property is 25 acres with the Wakatomika Creek running right along its western edge (visible in the photo below). The presence of an icehouse building (we’ll see that farther down) suggests this is an Amish group…

This Amish Buggy For Disabled Riders Has A Solar-Powered Lift

This Amish Buggy For Disabled Riders Has A Solar-Powered Lift

ByErik Wesner
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Sixteen months after starting the process, Amish Kitchen columnist Lovina Eicher’s youngest son Kevin finally has his handicap-accessible buggy. This week, Lovina shares a closer look with readers of her column. Kevin, age 20, has muscular dystrophy. He gets around on a mobility scooter (see photo further down). But at about 6’4″ and 230 pounds, getting him in and out of a standard buggy has…

“We Are Not Targeting The Amish” — Township Delays Vote Banning Steel Wheel Buggies After Packed Meeting

“We Are Not Targeting The Amish” — Township Delays Vote Banning Steel Wheel Buggies After Packed Meeting

ByErik Wesner
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A proposed ordinance that would ban steel-wheel buggies in a Pennsylvania township is on hold after dozens of residents packed a supervisors’ meeting Tuesday night to speak against it. Despite the planned vote, Bedford Township supervisors (Bedford County) did not take one in the end. They now say they plan to meet with the local Amish community – which they apparently never did (more on…