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 in VA Buggy Crash Charged With Manslaughter; Over $300K Raised For 8 Orphans

Driver in VA Buggy Crash Charged With Manslaughter; Over $300K Raised For 8 Orphans

Back in October we learned the sad news of two Amish parents in their late 30s being killed in a car-buggy crash in the Farmville, Virginia community. The buggy in which John and Barbie Esh were traveling with their eight children was struck from behind in the evening while on their way home from a friend’s place. One parent died on the scene and the…

Are the Amish hypocrites?

Are the Amish hypocrites?

“The Amish are hypocrites.” So this claim is hardly a new one. It’s something I’ve seen often enough over the years, both in comments here on the website and elsewhere. I just made a video about it, because I started to see it a lot in the YouTube comments on some videos, in particular one I did recently on how Amish keep food cool. I…

Inside A Nine-Acre Amish “Farmette” Home (27 Photos)

Inside A Nine-Acre Amish “Farmette” Home (27 Photos)

This is another home for sale in the Perry County (Somerset), Ohio community (same community as last week’s home, hat tip to John). So two things strike me right off about this property. One is that I quite like the layout of this property. It’s a sizeable though not huge piece of land (another “mini-farm” or “farmette”) at just under 9 acres. But the home…

Inside an Amish “Bent-n-Dent” Grocery Store (Video)

Inside an Amish “Bent-n-Dent” Grocery Store (Video)

I visited this store in the Hillsboro, Kentucky settlement in December (here’s a previous post related to that trip, and stores I visited). The store in this video is called Miller’s Country Store. When I arrived a bit before closing, the owner, an older Amish gentleman was kind enough to let me film inside the store and answer some questions about it. It’s a bent-n-dent…

Gloria Yoder Writes On Loss Of Husband Daniel

Gloria Yoder Writes On Loss Of Husband Daniel

Gloria Yoder opens up in the new Amish Cook column today about the loss of her husband Daniel. I know a lot of readers have been following this story and will want to know what Gloria has to share in this time of great loss. It has now been two weeks since Daniel died in a backyard accident. Here’s the first part of Gloria’s latest…

Gloria Yoder: Where To Send Cards

Gloria Yoder: Where To Send Cards

Amish Cook Editor Kevin Williams guest writes this week’s column following the death last week of Gloria Yoder’s husband Daniel. Here are the first parts of the brief column: Daniel Yoder, 33, passed away on April 4 from injuries sustained in a logging accident. The tragedy leaves Gloria, who pens the weekly Amish Cook column, to raise six children. Gloria’s church community, family, and friends and her…

Inside an Ohio Amish “Mini-Farm” Home (15 Photos)

Inside an Ohio Amish “Mini-Farm” Home (15 Photos)

The listing is calling this one a “mini-farm”, which I’m not sure has a technical definition, but I guess can mean any property of some acreage where you can raise animals, plant crops, etc. This one is attached to a 10-acre plot. Let’s start with the aerial view: The locale is Somerset which is in Perry County, Ohio – one of dozens of lesser-known-for-the-Amish corners…

Sad News: Amish Cook Gloria Yoder’s Husband Daniel Dies In Accident

Sad News: Amish Cook Gloria Yoder’s Husband Daniel Dies In Accident

A reader reached out to me a few days ago with this sad news, and it was confirmed with a note from Gloria’s editor Kevin Williams at the beginning of her latest column: Note from Kevin Williams, Editor of the Amish Cook column: It is with great sadness and shock that I tell readers that Gloria’s husband, Daniel, died in a logging accident on Monday,…

Indiana Barn Arsonist Couple Now Charged With Setting Fire To Amish School

Indiana Barn Arsonist Couple Now Charged With Setting Fire To Amish School

Joseph Hershberger, 41, and Sherry Thomas, 32, had already been charged with eight counts of arson for barn fires in the Elkhart County area, including Amish-owned barns. The eight fires were started in southern Elkhart County and northern Kosciusko County periodically throughout 2021. Charges for the barn arsons were brought against the couple in December, and it sounds like they have admitted to the crimes….

Amish Cook: Wedding Prep an Excuse to Remodel

In her latest Amish Cook column, Gloria Yoder describes preparations for an upcoming wedding at her home. The bride-to-be is a friend of Gloria’s of the same age, so this is a bit atypical for an Amish wedding as someone getting married at a later age (I believe Gloria is in her 30s). Gloria describes preparations which go beyond setting up temporary accommodations and tidying…