Amish in Illinois have made news by moving the oldest-known Amish home in the state, using the power of eight mighty Belgian horses. Belgians are a common breed used by Amish for farm work. This past Tuesday morning they found themselves with the uncommon task of transporting a 150-year-old farm home–though it turns out they only did a small part of the job: A team…
Tired of presidential election coverage? Well that makes two of us. But I feel the Amish vote topic, which we touched on in the spring, is worth revisiting for a couple of reasons. Back in May we shared news of a Political Action Committee targeting Amish voters (“Amish PAC”) in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two key swing states, to generate votes for Donald Trump. The Amish…
Ever heard of Horse Progress Days? It is an annual event heavily attended by Amish (we’ve covered a previous edition in Michigan here and here). Here to explain more is David Arment (author of all photos below), with a look at this year’s event, held in northern Indiana. Horse Progress Days was held July 1st and 2nd at the MEC (Michiana Event Center) North of…
How far would you go to discover your origin? A recent AP story tells the fascinating and moving tale of Diane Bell, who was abandoned as a three-month-old on an Amish farmhouse porch: Forty years ago, a widowed Amish woman and her daughter watched from their window late one night as someone in dark clothing walked up to their farmhouse near Gordonville, Lancaster County, and left…
Each year the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies publishes Amish population estimates on their Amish Studies web site. As of today those are not yet available. However this AP report previews some of the details of the population survey, with input from senior scholar Steven Nolt. Here are 3 takeaways from the article: 1. South America – First–and somewhat surprisingly–there are now two Amish settlements in South…
Amish in the St. Ignatius community in western Montana recently chipped in to support their local ambulance service, holding an auction to raise badly-needed funds. Local Amish have not really used the service, but realize the importance of supporting it. From valleyjournal.net: One might think that because the Amish don’t drive cars that they wanted to help the ambulance service to make sure they can get…
A rare February tornado wreaked havoc Wednesday evening in Lancaster County, destroying an Amish schoolhouse and damaging around 50 area homes. The schoolhouse is expected to be rebuilt within a week. Thankfully, since the storm hit in the evening, no one was in the building. From wgal.com: It happened in Salisbury Township where 30 students spanning from first through eighth grade attend school. The storm…
Rebecca Miller belongs to the large Old Order Amish community in Holmes County, Ohio. She’s previously shared a week’s diary in the life of an Amish girl, as well as two journals from trips to Niagara Falls and Mackinac Island. Amish people, especially younger folks, often contribute to disaster relief projects via Mennonite Disaster Service or other organizations. Many Amish and Mennonite volunteers have helped rebuild in the…
Here’s footage from a home fire which occurred Saturday evening in the Amish community at Oak Grove, Kentucky. Due to the intensity of the blaze, seven fire companies were called in to help, with one injury. The blaze was sparked by a gas motor in a freezer, which ignited a 300-gallon tank of gasoline creating a huge explosion, completely destroying the home and the business,…
On several previous occasions we’ve looked at photos taken in Amish homes, including an Ohio home as well as a farmhouse in New York state. But we haven’t seen a lot of video footage from inside Amish homes. However I recently came across the below video taken in what appears to be a Lancaster County Amish home. In this two-and-a-half minute video, the Amishman who…