How different are High German and the everyday language of the Amish*, Pennsylvania German (aka Pennsylvania Dutch)? In today’s video, a High German speaker converses with three Amish people – first Menno Petersheim of Shipshewana, IN, then Ivan and Ruth Chupp of Burr Oak, MI. You can see how well they are able to understand one another, and follow along thanks to the English subtitles. The…
Longtime readers might recall the story of Amos Hertzler, an Amish boy in Cattaraugus County, NY who was born with a serious esophageal condition in addition to having Down Syndrome. We first heard of this case in 2011 when Amos was just a one-year-old. Amos hasn’t appeared in the news much lately from what I’ve been able to find, which you’d assume to be a…
An Amish-owned horse decided to go for a little ride with no one behind the wheel, so to speak. The incident happened Sunday morning in the Holmes County, OH community. From the Wooster Daily Record: Ohio State Patrol Sgt. C.O. Smith was the one of a a small group of law enforcement officers from the patrol, Wooster Police Department and Wayne County Sheriff’s Office who…
It’s hard to watch this video (below) and not smile. A class of Amish schoolchildren sings “The Ninety-Nine” for the camera in what looks to be a Holmes County, Ohio Amish school. So enjoy this sweet rendition of a 120-year-old hymn…and can you tell from the video why I guessed this to be that community? The Ninety-Nine William G. Schell, pub. 1897 The ninety-nine within…
When reading of the Amish buggy accidents that seem to happen so frequently (a second Amish woman died Wednesday following last week’s accident in Ashland County, Ohio), my thoughts eventually but inevitably go to the vehicle driver. Hard to fathom what it must be like to have someone’s soul on your conscience, even in a situation where you’re not at fault. Of course, if it turns out drugs…
Here’s a short video of an Amish person skiing while being pulled by a buggy along the roadside. This comes from the Lowville community in upstate New York, home to two Amish churches. Looks like some young guys out enjoying the snow. A Lowville resident shot the video last week (mute your sound if you don’t want the background music). This isn’t the first time…
A few weeks ago, a fire broke out in a home in the Harmony Amish settlement, the largest in Minnesota. A bishop and his 18-year-old-son lost their lives. Since that time, both the local Amish community, as well as English neighbors (for anyone new, “English” is the term most, but not all, Amish use to refer to non-Amish people) have come together to help the remaining family,…
There’s a nice story making the rounds about a man named Matthew Secich who recently joined the Amish community at Unity, Maine. If the name of that community rings a bell, you may have seen it discussed here before. Here is one reader’s account of a visit to the settlement, and a look at what makes the community unusual. Secich is apparently a well-known and successful chef, who’s…
As we close the books on the last day of 2015, it’s always nice to take a look back at the previous 365. Every year has its ups and downs. I hope yours was overall a good one, and that 2016 is only better. Here on the blog, I’ve collected some favorite posts from the previous year. In this case “favorite” means either highly-viewed, highly-commented, or simply ones…
Do young Amish men drive motor vehicles? For most non-Amish adolescents, acquiring a license at age 16 or thereabouts–usually followed by a beater of a car–is an assumed rite of passage. For Amish youth–many of whom enjoy freedoms similar to that of non-Amish during their “running around” years–the choice is not so obvious. While it’s safe to say the majority do not, more than a few…