I just Googled ‘amish news’ and it seems the Amish are getting some polarized coverage these days. If they’re not being lauded as an example of how we should all be more forgiving, they are under fire as heartless puppy abusers. What’s the real deal? Besides stating the obvious that we should look at the individual and not the whole, the Amish seem to exhibit…
A small, accidental settlement of Amish apparently once existed in New Orleans. David Luthy explains that in the 1800s, many migrant Amish came to America from Europe by way of the Mississippi River port. Sometimes it happened that an Amish family lacked the funds to continue upstream and onward to established settlements, often in Illinois. Previous to 1850, stranded families formed a small and short-lived…
The crime was horrendous. But the point now is not the crime – it’s the hard issues at hand for the Amish community of Ed Gingerich – allegedly the only Amishman ever tried and convicted for the death of another human being. Gingerich killed his wife in a fit of insanity in 1993. A paranoid schizophrenic, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and served a…
Amish folks, like the rest of us, enjoy hearing the odd bit of trivia or unusual fact. Hence, three tidbits of Amish trivia, taken from Brad Igou’s compilation The Amish in their Own Words: 1.  Quilts. The Amish are well known for their proficiency in the quilting realm. Some of their pieces fetch upwards of $1000. The average quilt takes around 250-350 yards of thread. …
Accidents between Amish buggies and cars happen. Way too often. This summer during a three-month stay in northern Indiana, three fatal accidents occurred. One happened when a distracted driver hit an Amish man and two sons riding in a pony cart, killing all three. Another was caused by an Amish Rumspringa-age youth, who attempted to pass in a no-passing zone. He and the driver he…
The Amish settlement at Piketon, Ohio was an odd one to begin with. A few things made the Amish who settled here in 1949 different from most. One was their evangelistic emphasis. Amish traditionally do not try to convert others. Piketon, Ohio was begun by a minister sympathetic to the idea of spreading Amish beliefs. Secondly, they were the first Amish congregation ever to publish…
Diversity in the Amish world is a common theme of this blog. Ever wonder how different Amish groups use technology? Judging by the chart, it can be seen that the most conservative groups include the Swartzentruber Amish, Nebraska Amish, and the Buchanan County, Iowa Amish (the three of which Amish historian Steven Nolt groups together under the ultraconservative label, referring to the Buchanan group in…
Shunning is controversial, but helps uphold Amish society For the Amish, shunning only happens among baptized members. Youth may bend or break rules during Rumspringa, though Amish parents do not necessarily condone or encourage such behavior.  But in practice, some Amish youth buy cars, wear ‘English’ clothes, and so on. If they cross the line too blatantly, they may get a ‘talking-to’, but they won’t…
Amish tourism did not begin with Witness. That 1985 film just made it worse (or better, depending on how you look at it, I suppose). David Luthy, writing in The Amish Struggle with Modernity, tells us that the first Amish-themed novel came out in 1905 (wait a minute–back when many of us English were still riding around in buggies!), the first Amish postcards around 1915,…
Following up the great Amish photos from Bill Coleman last week, here is a new, no-less impressive batch from Randall Persing. Randy says that he feels fortunate to have developed friendships with the Amish. This also allows him to freely move about the community, attend events, and document Amish life. Nebraska Amish Like Bill Coleman, Randy has been able to photograph perhaps the most conservative…