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 Andrew Yutzy Here’s what happened, via the Indianapolis Star: Sam…
Earlier this week I let you know about the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC), a new open-source scholarly publication. But what about publications produced by the Amish? While scholarly journals provide a different and valuable perspective, it’s also nice to read writings direct from Amish writers. And there is a wide and growing range of such periodicals. Some of these are pretty well-known, while…
Several readers shared this somewhat surprising story with me. Here’s a video showing a parade in support of President Trump, which took place Saturday in and outside of Fredericksburg, Ohio: This is in the Holmes/Wayne County settlement. There were a reported 500 people who gathered in this small town lying just over the county border. If you watch the video, you’ll see it is a…
I’m happy to inform you that there is a new free online publication covering Amish and Plain Anabaptist topics which has just launched. One of the editors, Joseph Donnermeyer, has passed along the following to be shared with you: On September 18, the inaugural issue of the new online, free access journal – the Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities (JPAC) – was launched. JPAC is…
Following our first post on natural remedies which Amish use, here are five more. This time, they’re all sourced from Emma Byler’s book Plain & Happy Living: Amish Recipes & Remedies. I’m not promoting these as something you should use, though. I’m just sharing them as ones that caught my eye “for informational purposes”. Amish use a variety of approaches to health care, including conventional…
Some new info in the Linda Stoltzfoos disappearance case. Unsealed court documents have shown that kidnapping suspect Justo Smoker sent multiple messages to his brother Victor in a window of time beginning about 20 minutes after Linda was last seen. The detective who applied for the search warrant stated that the text messages “would be directly after Linda Stoltzfoos was kidnapped.” Via Lancaster Online: In…
This is a really ugly story which has been making its way around the web the past few days. I take no joy in covering this but it is an “Amish” story, and one that is getting attention for reasons which raise questions about equal treatment. Two adult brothers plead guilty to molesting their minor-age sister in the Seymour, Missouri Amish community. Here’s a summary…
I was both surprised and unsurprised to come across an Amish home listing from the Enon Valley, Pennsylvania settlement. Surprised because it is a very small community. Unsurprised because it’s an unusual community, one that’s quite old but where Amish residents apparently don’t remain for very long on the whole. We saw the Enon Valley community early last year in a post I did on…
The word “Amish” is getting attached to the events in Lancaster city following an incident in which a man was shot and killed by police. Specifically, some media sources have been framing this as something like “trouble in Amish Country” – but that is a mis-framing. Lancaster city is in the middle of Lancaster County, but it’s hardly “Amish Country”. There are a good number…
In her latest, Lovina Eicher, an Amish mother of eight who writes the Lovina’s Amish Kitchen column, explains a challenge of everyday Amish life – making sure the water pump is working reliably enough for a shower. Lovina’s household’s water pump is run by a battery, in this case a solar powered-one. Lately in her Michigan community the sun hasn’t been doing its job, which…