Joseph Donnermeyer of Ohio State University today shares with us an article published two weeks ago in the Budget newspaper. In it, Joe looks back at all the Amish settlement attempts throughout their history in North America. He highlights some interesting figures, including a total of 342 settlement attempts since 2000. At first that seemed higher than I’d expect, but it only underscores the growing…
This past December, a group of Amishmen visited the White House and met with the president and vice-president. After the report of this unusual meeting emerged, Steven Nolt, author of A History of the Amish, shared a follow-up, adding some interesting detail about Amish encounters with past presidents. Steve first addresses the question: Was this the first time Amish people were guests of a president…
This is not what they call getting off on the right foot. An Amish business in LaGrange County, Indiana caught fire yesterday and burned down on its very first day of operation. And it was not a small shop. From WSBT: “It was fully involved two-thirds of the way down,” said Huffman. “This building is approximately 200 feet long by about 90 feet wide. And…
I always tell people that if you are new in an Amish community, and want to meet the locals, the best thing to do is to visit their businesses. Larger communities like Lancaster County and Holmes County have significantly more Amish businesses. But they’re not as densely located or convenient to visit as in Ethridge, Tennessee‘s community of 11 church districts. It seems every other…
Amish Cook Gloria Yoder is expecting, and she is thinking about a name for her boy or girl. How do Amish parents decide on a baby name? Gloria shares her family’s approach – and some common Amish naming conventions – in her latest column: While some Amish communities stick with using only one name, in our community most of us go by two names besides…
It must be that time of year. After Lovina Eicher gave us an up-close look at pon hoss, Gloria Yoder describes a butchering event in her church. I know some people don’t like to read about these topics. But on the other hand, it’s good to recognize and appreciate that meat doesn’t just come from a grocery store. A reality of life in Amish communities…
Ohio lawmakers want all 75,000+ Amish in the state to make some changes to their buggies. A proposed law would require a buggy-top flashing light, and a new kind of tape. From the Wooster Daily Record: Rep. Scott Wiggam (R-Wooster) and Rep. Darrell Kick (R-Loudonville) announced a bill Monday designed to make buggies more visible. The bill would require animal-drawn vehicles to display a new…
Presented again with minimal comment, here are 10 photos of the Pearisburg, Virginia Amish area. If you’re not familiar, here is more on what makes this community unique. I had wanted to visit this area for some time and finally had a chance yesterday. A misty, rainy day but that only added to the atmosphere of this mountainous community. But first: on the way, I…
Lovina Eicher makes it in this week’s edition of Lovina’s Amish Kitchen. As she describes it, pon hoss is “a fried dish made from leftover hog meat.” It is also another name for scrapple. The dish was first created by German settlers in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries. Here is more on how it gets made: On Saturday, we helped sister Emma and Jacob…
From time to time we see Amish properties up for sale online. Two such homes appeared in Ohio and New York. Comparing those two cases, you can see how different Amish homes can be. The Ohio home is from a New Order Amish church. The New York home is from a Swartzentruber community. They are quite different inside (and outside, for that matter). Now we…