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The Amish & Crime

Amish Lake Deaths: Body Cam Footage Shows Ruth Miller’s Strange Statements, Behavior; Lawyer Suggests Insanity Defense. UPDATE: Miller Indicted On Seven Charges
ByErik Wesner September 4, 2025September 5, 2025
1 Comment

Amish mother Ruth Miller was booked into jail Monday, charged with aggravated murder in the death of her young son Vincen, among other charges. This followed a weeklong stay at a mental health facility. Today, it appears news outlets were able to acquire body cam footage from August 23, when authorities were called to Atwood Lake after Miller allegedly intentionally drove a golf cart carrying…

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Mennonite & Anabaptist

Second Kentucky Man Charged With Sex Crimes – After Mennonite Community Tips Off Police
ByErik Wesner September 4, 2025

This is a disturbing story, but one that needs covering, for multiple reasons. Fresh reports describe what appears to be a second man from the same plain Mennonite community being charged with sex-related crimes within the span of a few weeks. And in this second instance just being reported, it seems that action by the Mennonite community was pivotal in making the suspect’s arrest. First…

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Amish Culture

Behind The Scenes At An Amish Horse Festival (32 Photos)
ByErik Wesner September 3, 2025
5 Comments

We’ve got a nice photo set from the annual Amish horse festival Horse Progress Days, courtesy of Jim Halverson. The latest edition took place in Clare County, Michigan, in July. If you missed it, you can also check out Milo Miller’s set of photos from the event, or this write-up on it. Jim’s photos are more of the “behind-the-scenes” – food and refreshments, the crowd…

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The Amish & Crime

Amish Mother Ruth Miller, Facing Murder Charges In Death of 4-Year-Old Son, Booked Into Jail; No Bail Set (Yet)
ByErik Wesner September 2, 2025September 3, 2025
2 Comments

Amish mother Ruth R. Miller was booked into jail on Monday, following a stay at a mental health facility. Miller has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder in the death of her four-year-old son Vincen, following events at a Tuscarawas County, Ohio lake in which she allegedly threw the boy into the water as a “price to pay” for failing tests of faith….

Read More Amish Mother Ruth Miller, Facing Murder Charges In Death of 4-Year-Old Son, Booked Into Jail; No Bail Set (Yet)
Buggy Accidents

Amish Wagon Wreck: Eight People Ejected; Horse Killed (New York)
ByErik Wesner September 2, 2025
4 Comments

This was first reported yesterday – but with scarce details. Now it’s known that a crash in Herkimer County, New York, ejected eight Amish people from a wagon, with a six-year-old boy being hospitalized. A horse was also killed in the crash. From Syracuse.com: Danube, N.Y. — Eight people were ejected from a horse-drawn wagon and a horse died after a crash Monday in Herkimer…

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The Amish & Health

Amish Flock To Montana Radon Mines To Breathe Radioactive Air – For Health Purposes
ByErik Wesner September 1, 2025
6 Comments

Many Amish people make use of conventional medicine and health care. At the same time, many are partial to alternative treatments and unconventional approaches to health and wellness (here are five examples). And for some Amish folks, spending time being exposed to radon belongs on that list. A recent story in the Jefferson County, MT Monitor Online describes how popular one Montana mine has become…

Read More Amish Flock To Montana Radon Mines To Breathe Radioactive Air – For Health Purposes
Visit Amish Country

12 Great Places to Stay in Ohio Amish Country (Holmes County & Beyond)
ByErik Wesner August 30, 2025
7 Comments

Where Rolling Hills, Handcrafted Traditions, and Amish Hospitality Meet Ohio’s Amish Country, centered around Holmes County, but extending into neighboring counties like Wayne, Tuscarawas, Coshocton, and Stark, is one of the largest Amish communities in the world. Home to around 40,000 Amish people, each year scores of visitors are drawn here by the winding backroads, horse-drawn buggies, quilt shops, cheese factories, and warm hospitality. People…

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The Amish & Health

Amish In This Community Are 3 Times More Likely To Have Diabetes
ByErik Wesner August 29, 2025
4 Comments

Specifically, type 1 diabetes, which most commonly shows up with children and younger people. And as noted we’re talking about one community, albeit quite a significant one – the third-largest in the country, in Northern Indiana (Elkhart & LaGrange County). Here’s more from WSBT: MIDDLEBURY, Ind. (WSBT) — Researchers in Middlebury are finding hope in the work to cure diabetes. New studies suggest the Amish…

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Amish Culture

Brand New From Ben & Rose: “Farther On”
ByErik Wesner August 29, 2025
1 Comment

Coinciding with their debut album release today, Ben and Rose have put out a new song and video. And this one, “Farther On”, is a great choice as it sounds fantastic. Described as an “old gospel favorite”, the Amish couple deliver a great rendition. The song is calm and understated with some delicate playing. In the video, the pair sing on a beautiful Pennsylvania hillside…

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Amish Homes

Inside A Small But Vibrant Amish “Shop” Home (17 Photos)
ByErik Wesner August 28, 2025
5 Comments

This charming little place is yet another home in Fillmore County, Minnesota. The county has three separate Amish communities; the best-known and biggest is the Harmony settlement, a Swartzentruber Amish settlement. This home, with a Mabel, MN address, appears to belong to that settlement. Unlike the three previous traditional farm homes from this settlement we’ve looked at, this is a smaller place, with just two…

Read More Inside A Small But Vibrant Amish “Shop” Home (17 Photos)

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