It’s been a terrible two weeks for Amish on the road. The Friday before last, a semi crashed into a carriage in Christian County, Kentucky, killing an Amish toddler. The driver was charged with operating a vehicle under the influence. The next day a van driver, apparently also inebriated, hit a horsecart in northern Indiana, killing a 12-year-old Amish boy. Now, five Amish have been…
Thar she blows! A nice photo of what looks like Lancaster folks* at the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone park. I’m pretty sure these guys are on vacation and not scouting settlement locations. Amish do take vacations, some more extravagant than others. Summer is upon us which means road trips. Though with gas up and the economy down maybe less than usual. This summer I…
How big is the Amish population? As of 2011, the total Amish population is 261,150, according to the latest estimates by the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. No new states made the list this year. So the total Amish tally remains at 28 states (and Ontario). I guess we’ll have to wait another year for that Hawaii Amish entry. It makes me…
Do Amish horses often lose shoes on the road? The reader who shares the photo below says yes: “Horses always leaving these behind. I ran over this one today, glad the nails were pointed down.” Farriers are the men in Amish settlements who shoe the community’s horses. You can read more and view photos in this report on a visit to an Amish farrier at…
Today, an interview with Ira Wagler on his new memoir, Growing Up Amish. Ira was born in the Aylmer, Ontario Amish community and grew up in Bloomfield, Iowa. During his youth and young adulthood he spent time on a Nebraska cattle ranch, Canadian wheat fields, and in Amish communities across the country. Ira struggled with life as an Amish person before finally leaving for good…
That was the question asked in this thought-provoking video I watched over the weekend. The tone of the narrator is a little too “kindergarten teacher” for me, and don’t watch if you don’t want to see people in beach-style attire in a few places. But it makes a pretty interesting point. Compared to our predecessors, we live like kings (behold the $4,000 1980s brick cellphone). The…
Summer is prime time for auctions. The town of Belleville smack dab in the middle of Big Valley in Mifflin County, PA is home to a long-running auction and flea market, which attracts a large contingent of Amish and English alike. The auction is held each Wednesday year-round. Livestock, farm equipment and many other items go up on the block each week. The flea market…
Attacks against Amish have a long history. These have ranged from verbal abuse to more serious offenses such as theft, vandalism, and arson. In some cases, Amish have been injured or even killed. A series of barn burnings in Big Valley, PA in the early 1990s, or targeted assaults and robberies against Amish in the Nappanee, Indiana area, are just a couple of the more…
About four years back, Geauga County, Ohio native John Gingerich undertook to translate a text very important to the history of the Amish and other Anabaptists. History of the Bernese Anabaptists was written by Ernst Müller and published in 1895. Up until now it has never been available in English. In today’s interview, John explains how the translation came about while offering a fascinating look…
How do Amish folks maintain such a calm demeanor? Well, while poking around my friend’s library, I think I came across the secret. Attitude Adjustors: This innocent box just happened to be lying there on the shelf (within easy reach of a work desk, a stack of bills and other scary-looking papers, I might add). It seems Attitude Adjustors come standard in Amish homes. The…