A tractor and a four-horse team were used to move a historic Amish schoolhouse Friday from a location outside Arthur, Illinois to its new home at the Illinois Amish Heritage Center. It took around two hours to move it about nine miles. Image: Heritage Iron Magazine The school had been purchased by a woman named Karen Miller, who had attended school there as an Amish…
We finish out the Rediscovering the Ausbund series with part 4 of 4 today. Thanks to Elam Stoltzfus for sharing with us. This series was originally published in Plain Values magazine. If you missed them, here are parts one, two, and three. Music, hymns and words are ingrained at an early age; indeed there is abundant evidence that babies can hear music before birth. Music…
Today we have part 3 of 4 in Elam Stoltzfus’ series on the Ausbund. If you missed them, here are parts 1 and 2. 2017 was the 500 year anniversary of the start of the Reformation. The anniversary commemorated Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses on the church doors in Wittenberg in 1517, which was one of many actions that led to the formation of…
Here’s Elam Stoltzfus with part 2 of 4 of his Rediscovering the Ausbund series, originally published in Plain Values magazine. If you missed part 1, find that here. All photos here are by Elam. My father Elmer was an Ausbund song leader. When we met for church, he would lead the Amish congregation in song, starting slowly, rolling out the syllables written in German gothic script….
We’ve got two winners today of German Lutherans to Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story by Nic Stoltzfus (if you missed the interview with Nic, find it here). But first, an excerpt from the book. This is a section on the question of who was Nicholas Stoltzfus’ wife. She was at least partially known, but her identity had not been precisely identified. Nic and the…
Mark Louden gave a talk last month entitled “A Historical Look At The Amish” which you might enjoy. This hourlong talk was given online for the Allen Public Library of Allen, Texas. Mark is the author of Pennsylvania Dutch: The Story of an American Language and professor of Germanic Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin among other positions. This is a nice talk to listen…
I really enjoy looking at old postcards. I came across five interesting vintage Amish postcards on Flickr to share with you. Several of these are from the Lancaster County area. One or two have a touch of humor to them. Let’s have a look. 1. Greetings From The Pennsylvania Dutch Country This is a card with classic “PA Dutch” iconogaphy and lettering. Lancaster Amish Country…
Reader Romain Speisser has shared a guest post today on the history of the Amish in his region of Alsace in France. Romain writes about the “Heftler” people and some of the significant figures of the area – as well as one important oak tree over two centuries old. I share with you Romain’s post below, along with some photos, all taken by Romain. For…
Riehl is not the most common of Amish names. You’re most likely to come across it in Lancaster County, and that community’s daughter settlements, but even then it is far outnumbered by all the Stoltzfuses, Fishers, and Zooks. The Riehl surname is noteworthy for having one of the more famous “Amish origin” stories of any the Amish carry today. This excerpt giving the story is…
A very important person as regards Amish religious freedom passed away a month ago. I’m not sure how many Amish people know of William C. Lindholm today, but he was instrumental to the freedoms Amish now have in educating their children. Young Center Senior Scholar Steven Nolt shares the following on Lindholm and his relevance to the Amish: The Rev. William “Bill” C. Lindholm, the…