New York Amish

The Watertown Daily Times has published comments from the father of the two girls abducted last week in upstate New York. Mose Miller has 14 children, and is one of the Heuvelton community‘s bishops. In an interview with Johnson Newspapers in their Heuvelton home on Sunday, the girls’ father — Mose Miller, 44 — said he feels […]

Continue Reading Father of Abducted Girls Feels Sorry for Kidnappers

Over a dozen Amish appeared in a central New York court last week to express displeasure over plans to build a casino in their community. “They could not imagine staying here with a casino,” explained their spokesman, Lynn Barbuto. What problem do the Amish have with the proposed gambling house? For one, traffic, which according […]

Continue Reading Amish in New York: No Casino Please

Since 1974, David Luthy has periodically released a directory of Amish communities appearing in Family Life, with updates appearing every 5 to 10 years (the last was in 2008). Writing in last July’s issue of Family Life, Luthy observes “with 62 counties in its 49,109 square miles, New York has in the past ten years […]

Continue Reading New York still drawing Amish and Mennonites

Last month we had news that a Swartzentruber Amish settlement in Pennsylvania would likely be coming to an end, with residents heading to greener pastures. One of the destination communities for families in the distintegrating settlement was said to be the Swartzentruber outpost in St. Lawrence County, New York, part of the state’s “North Country”. St. […]

Continue Reading Amish in New York’s North Country

Andy sends in the photo below, taken in warmer times in the vicinity of Jamestown, New York. I’ve got 2 copies of the 2012 Amish Woodworkers of America guide for the 2 best captions. This latest edition of the guide includes a short piece I wrote on Amish furniture businesses.

Continue Reading Caption this: Warmer times

Two weeks ago we looked at growth of the Amish in Tennessee.  This documentary examines Amish expansion near the town of Moira, New York.  Karen Johnson-Weiner provides some good commentary.  I found the various reactions of the locals particularly interesting. What do you think?

Continue Reading “Plain Intolerance” Amish documentary

News came earlier this week that the long-running dispute between Amish and authorities in Morristown, New York, has come to an end.  You might remember a post last spring on the Amish smoke alarm issue; if you viewed the PBS documentary The Amish you would have seen this case discussed. To review, Amish had refused to follow […]

Continue Reading Amish smoke detector dispute resolved

Do you recall the 12 Amish children orphaned last year when their parents died in a highway accident in New York?  The  Hershberger children were officially adopted this past Monday by an uncle and aunt from Ohio.  From the story: The judge asked each soon-to-be parent and the older children if they wanted to move […]

Continue Reading Twelve Amish orphans adopted

Visiting Amish communities you might notice people living in a building meant for something else. Tom shares a little today about these “shop houses” along with a few photos from Angelica, NY: Says Tom: “In Conewango and other conservative settlements I visit young married Amish couples often build a shop house. This a very simple […]

Continue Reading Amish shop houses

Tom shares a few photos from an Amish welding business in the settlement at Clyde, New York. Tom describes Schmucker Welding as a “Nice new shop with two very long power shafts and more belts that I have ever seen in one place.” Shafts and belts can be used to operate a variety of shop […]

Continue Reading Amish Welding Shop