Each year over 100,000 horses, ponies, donkeys and mules are marked for slaughter, according to an article in Tampa Bay’s 83 Degrees online magazine – among them saddlebreds. Saddlebred horses are valued by Amish for their roadworthiness, but as with any physical asset, they have a limited useful life: Because they are often trained to harness before they are ridden, saddlebreds are prized in Amish…
From the article in Mennonite World Review: Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wisconsin v. Yoder decision has traditionally been hailed as a religious freedom victory for the Amish, some Amish people want to challenge the 1972 ruling. That’s one thing the founders of the Amish Heritage Foundation, a new organization with a goal “to reclaim our Amish narrative,” will discuss at their first conference. ……
The Young Center have released their 2018 Amish population numbers. In 2018, Amish are found in 31 states, four Canadian provinces, and two countries in South America. You can find the full tables here, an overview of the 2018 population, and a list of the 12 largest settlements. Manitoba is the only new addition this year as far as new states/provinces/countries. Five things of note:…
Can you guess which four books are found in Lancaster County Amish homes, according to one Amish informant? The latest Scribbler column at Lancaster Online looks into the topic. Scribbler Jack Brubaker was told by a local Amish person that you can count on finding these four books in each Lancaster County Amish home: The Bible – The Amish use the Martin Luther German version…
Donald Kraybill is the author of over a dozen books on the Amish, and currently serves as Senior Fellow Emeritus at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. I asked Don if he’d answer some questions for us today on the Amish and his newest book, called Simply Amish: An Essential Guide from the Foremost Expert on Amish Life. From the…
Timothy Hochstedler of St. Joseph County, Michigan has started what he calls an “Amish Uber” service, reports WWMT. When I first heard of this, I thought it might be something an Amishman was doing as a service for other Amish in his community. Rather it seems like it is appealing more to non-Amish – and may just be another name for a buggy ride business….
Mike Sparks, who gave us a look at the Amish community in Ashland County, OH, returns to share his recent visit to the settlement in Holmes and Wayne Counties. Mike has been visiting and learning about the Amish for over four decades now. I’ll let Mike take it away with a little description of his background and then his photos of the early-July trip. If…
WTVB reports that an Amish family with two children with special needs will receive funds for a custom-made buggy from Michigan’s Children’s Special Needs Fund. There isn’t a lot of info in this article, but the story is interesting, on a couple of counts. From wtvbam.com (Branch County, MI): HILLSDALE, MI (WTVB) – An Amish family in Camden is getting some help for two children with…
Last year we heard about Amish planning to move to a fourth Canadian province, Manitoba. Reader Urs Christen recently paid a visit to this small community and shares photos and a brief account. Urs was not able to visit businesses as it was a Sunday, but you can see there are at least one or two baked goods places there. This community is located in…
There have been more than 630 buggy/vehicle accidents in Pennsylvania over the past decade. Based on that number, you can estimate roughly 3000 accidents across the entire 350,000-plus Amish/horse-and-buggy Mennonite population in that time. The Lancaster General Health system has created a list of tips for drivers to try to bring these numbers down. This came in part from firsthand immersion in the Lancaster Plain…