“I don’t recall ever feeling they were rude. But I definitely thought they didn’t like small talk. I assumed it was because I was English – or if I was speaking to a man, it was that I was a woman.” That’s a comment from one observer on the question “Are the Amish rude?” Some of you might recall this topic from back in March…
This Amish home comes from one of Pennsylvania’s largest and most distinct Amish communities, that of New Wilmington on the western end of the state. We’ve actually seen a pair of homes from this settlement up for sale before, suggesting that “online” is a common-enough way to move your property if you’re Amish in this area. So the color I want to emphasize as we…
If you caught the “Is Amish Life Hard?” post of a couple weeks ago, that was an excerpt of a longer conversation with John Esh. Today I’m sharing the full video of our talk. John is an Amishman living in the Nittany Valley community of Centre County, Pennsylvania. Goot Essa is John’s company. For about the first half of this 27-minute conversation, we discuss Amish…
The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities has released volume 4, issue 1. In this issue of JPAC, we begin a new series introducing Anabaptist research centers and their holdings and management. We begin with the Ohio Amish Library and the Geauga Amish Historical Library and will feature additional centers in the coming issues. From the fields of legal studies, demography, socio-linguistic scholarship, and ethnographic religious…
When you see a crime report about an Amish roadside stand, you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking it was someone stealing money from the honor system cash deposits that a lot of these stands use. Not in this case, though. From WBKO: BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – The Simpson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an armed robbery that occurred Thursday, Nov. 30. According to a press…
And I write “Middle of Nowhere” with affection, because I happen to be quite fond of many middle-of-nowhere places. But in reality, this is somewhere – specifically the Sandhills of Nebraska. Amish who appear to be a part of the Michigan Circle (that group has been showing up a good bit here lately) have started up a new settlement in the area of a town…
We learned about Mio, Michigan recently here as a part of the Michigan Circle Amish churches. Now in this photo set by Jim Halverson, a look inside an Amish bulk food store in the community – Country Corner Bulk Foods. This is one of a number of Mio-area businesses. As you can see by the map here, there are quite a few Amish businesses in…
An Indiana man who schemed Amish and Mennonite investors out of millions of dollars has been sentenced after being found guilty of fraud in May 2022. From WNDU: SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – A Goshen man has been sentenced to just over eight years in prison and has been ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution for his role in an investment fraud scheme….
“Don’t feel sorry for us, no,” John says with a chuckle. “We’re having a good life.” In this video I interview John Esh. John lives in Nittany Valley in central Pennsylvania and runs the Goot Essa cheese & food company (Full video transcript below). John sat down for a longer conversation with me a week or so ago. I’ll be posting that full video soon….
Back in 2019 we had a look at the Amish and hemp farming, a trend that emerged after Pennsylvania legalized hemp cultivation. Now four years later, a new piece at DailyMail.com looks at “the booming business of Amish cannabis farmers” with a visit to the retail location of Lancaster County Cannabis, owned by a 29-year-old Amishman who goes only by his last name in the story…