This photo comes from Paoli, Indiana. The photographer took it in 2009. He writes that “I passed these two, three times in two hours and they never had a customer” and that “Even the Amish are having a hard time making a living.” This would have been during the “Great Recession,” so that adds some context to those comments. Paoli is in southern Indiana. In…
On a day we give thanks, here is a Thanksgiving song from an Amish school. This was filmed by Phil Sarlo in 2019, part of a program in a school in the Holmes County, Ohio community. The song is called “And Father We Thank You”, and it was written by a local Amish man. Phil explains the song: This is a congregational song with amazing…
In our interview with Nic Stoltzfus on German Lutherans To Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story, we also learned about the contribution of Nic’s father Elam, who provided many of the beautiful photos in the book. Today, Elam shares part 1 of 4 in a series he wrote on the Ausbund. This was originally published in Plain Values, a Holmes County-based magazine geared towards Amish…
Linda Stoltzfoos‘ 19th birthday was last week. It’s now been 5 months since she disappeared. Lancaster Online shares a brief update. Unfortunately there are few positive details in it, other than the fact the investigation is ongoing. However, I think that is good to keep in mind: Saturday marks five months since Linda Stoltzfoos disappeared — kidnapped, according to authorities, while walking home from church…
Here’s the third Amish home in a row that happens to be up for sale. So if you’re in the market for a plain Amish home, here’s your chance 🙂 Well, of course location matters at least a bit. So where is this place? The home is located in Angelica, New York (Allegany County) in the western end of the state, around 90 minutes’ drive…
“People especially now want to get away…they want something that will draw them away from the complicated life, and the uncertainty.” Elizabeth Byler Younts is an author of Amish-themed fiction who spent part of her childhood in an Amish family. She digs into the question of why readers love Amish fiction in a podcast from the Anselm Society. Elizabeth has some good insights and I…
Molly asks a good question on the recent Lancaster farm stay post: Erik, would you tell us the differences between Lancaster County & Holmes County? We have visited Holmes County, but would like to know the differences. As the two largest and most-visited Amish communities, people do often wonder which one of Holmes County and Lancaster County is best to visit – and how they…
WKYC’s 88 Counties in 88 Days series stopped in Geauga County following an earlier visit to Holmes County. They spoke with Chester Kurtz, an Amishman associated with the Geauga Amish Historical Library, on how his community is handling the pandemic. I find Kurtz an exceptional spokesman for his people, which you can judge in the video below. Chester Kurtz. Images: WKYC This video was actually posted…
Each of these three videos features Amish either on the way to church, or heading home afterwards. But which communities were they filmed in? There are clues in each video which point to the answers. Number 3 is the toughest. Video #1 Video #2 Video #3
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…