Mennonite & Anabaptist

The Young Center at Elizabethtown College provides annual Amish population numbers, with totals for each state, province and so on. But they also have figures for the Old Order Mennonite population, a group similar to Amish in many ways (and in some cases living next door to them as neighbors). According to their latest tallies, […]

Continue Reading The Old Order Mennonite Population (Horse & Buggy): 38,000+ in The US, Canada & Belize

Jim Halverson shares a visit he made back in the fall to the Wakarusa area of northern Indiana. This town lying north of Nappanee is in the vicinity of a small Old Order Mennonite community. Jim made two interesting stops while in the area, as you’ll see below. Instead of trick-or-treating on Halloween, I attended […]

Continue Reading Visiting An Old Order Mennonite Horse Auction – And Casket Shop (22 Photos)

I’ve seen a lot less coverage of the Amish & COVID north of the border, perhaps because their populations are smaller and/or because I’m less plugged in to the Canadian media. It may also be – and this is just speculation – because Canadian media is less likely to publish stories readily identifying the subject […]

Continue Reading Ontario Amish & Mennonites Tied To COVID Increase

Last week we learned the tragic story of Jonathan and Wilma Hochstetler, a Mennonite couple shot in a late-night robbery in Indianapolis, with Wilma losing her life. Jonathan happens to be a cousin to Amish Cook columnist Gloria Yoder – the oldest cousin of 47 on her father’s side, as she describes him. In this […]

Continue Reading Amish Cook Gloria Yoder On The Hochstetler Shooting

This is a pretty awful and senseless story which hit me for several reasons. This couple is Mennonite, apparently grew up in an Amish community, and probably still have a good number of family who are Amish (two photos of family in the article linked below appear to be Amish). Hochstetler family photo provided by […]

Continue Reading Amish-Raised Couple Shot, One Killed In Indianapolis Robbery

This is an absorbing 42-minute documentary on the Little Belize Mennonite colony. Little Belize is the home of approximately 3,000 Old Colony Mennonites, living on about 100 square kilometers of land. The Old Colony Mennonites are Plain Anabaptist cousins of the Amish, with numerous similarities to them. The producers of the documentary, made for the […]

Continue Reading Life In A Belize Mennonite Colony (Documentary)

I was shocked to see this obituary today. I immediately recognized the photo from the back of her book. Lillian Fern Stoltzfus wrote a very nice guide to learning Pennsylvania Dutch called Speaking Amish. I don’t believe I ever met Lillian or anyone in her family, but have known of her for years. I would […]

Continue Reading Lillian Fern Stoltzfus 1974 – 2020

In February we posted about Philip E. Riehl, a now-excommunicated Mennonite man who defrauded Mennonite and Amish investors to the tune of $60 million, in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in state history. Riehl was sentenced Monday to 10 years in federal prison. From the Allentown Morning Call: BERKS COUNTY — An accountant who […]

Continue Reading Man Who Defrauded Mennonites & Amish In $60 Million Scheme Sentenced To 10 Years

Lancaster County is (I believe) the only place* where you’ll see both gray-topped and black-topped buggies in the same community. Black is easily the most common color for Amish buggies overall. But the Amish in this best-known of all Plain communities actually drive the gray version. Lancaster County Amish buggies So who is holding the […]

Continue Reading Lancaster County: Gray Buggy or Black Buggy?

Members of a Missouri Mennonite community have forgiven the teenaged driver who struck a buggy July 11th, resulting in the death of a 7-year-old boy. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Meanwhile, some men in the Mennonite community have met with the boy to forgive him for killing 7-year-old Mervin Shirk. “They wanted him to know […]

Continue Reading Mennonites Forgive Driver Who Killed 7-Year-Old Boy