Today, day 2 in Holmes County. Arriving Monday, in places it almost looked like fall already. Â Apparently it has been pretty dry. It rained a bit yesterday though. Lot of nice visits so far, including a stop at Marlene Miller‘s. Marlene is as warm in person as she comes across in her book. Monster cookies and other treats came from this place: Pumpkins are available…
How do Amish decide where to get medical treatment?  There are multiple factors that go into that decision, but since Amish pay cash for medical care, a big factor is cost. If you’ve ever traveled through Millersburg, the seat of Holmes County, you may have passed by Pomerene Hospital.  Amish are perhaps 40% of Holmes County’s population, one reason they make up a large part–20%–of the…
There is apparently one Amish-attended event where cameras are not at all welcome: dog auctions. Or at least undercover cameras aren’t. WFMY News reports that a producer and videographer working incognito were tossed from a recent Millersburg auction and threatened with arrest. I can’t say I’m too surprised, given that it was on private property. Â And given that there is a reported ban on recording…
Unfortunately harassing the Amish happens often enough that it even goes by a few colorful terms such as “Amo-bashing”. Â It can range from petty vandalism to verbal abuse to even assault. A pair of recent incidents go a step further into felony criminal territory. Â Two Amish couples in Geauga County, Ohio were held up a week ago in separate incidents on the same road. The…
The best known Amish community in Ohio is of course the huge Holmes County settlement, home to around 30,000 Amish. Next would be the Geauga County community, the fourth largest of all Amish settlements, with a little less than half the population of Holmes County. Those may be the most well known Ohio Amish locations, but there are many other Amish settlements scattered across the…
The news came yesterday that Monroe Beachy, Ohio Amishman and investment fund manager, received a 6-and-a-half year sentence for fraud. Investors in Beachy’s popular fund lost around $17 million, around half of its total value. U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach described it as “fraud on a massive scale.” Beachy, 78, requested to serve his sentence at home, but this was rejected, and he will be going…
Welcome to the not-so-scenic side of Amish country. The Amish of Hardin County, Ohio (aka Kenton Amish) are in the news for violating waste disposal rules. Â Local officials warned Amish some months back that new outhouses will need a sealed concrete tank, and that they’ll need to pay for a waste removal service. A local news outlet caught up with bishop Elmer Bontrager on…
Fifteen-year-old Rachel Yoder was killed in Holmes County, Ohio last December when an Amish hunter fired his weapon into the air from over a mile away. Rachel was hit in the head while driving her buggy home from a Christmas gathering. The news is that Marion Yoder, the shooter, will be charged with reckless homicide. If convicted the 28-year-old faces the possibility of several years…
Sixteen defendants in the Amish beard-cutting incidents were arraigned in federal court in Cleveland yesterday. The indictments include charges of kidnapping, conspiracy, and assault. Â All pleaded not guilty. Â One account is here. Reading through the various media stories a few things jumped out: Six women are among the defendants. The seven men who are being held in prison wore orange jumpsuits. New charges of evidence…
Last October we had a look at some unusual occupations in Michigan Amish communities.  I was recently going through an Ohio Amish directory while doing book research and came across more uncommon Amish jobs. Amish church directories vary.  Some have the head of household’s occupation listed; others don’t. Sometimes the listing is just a generic description of the job (“Mason” or “Roofer” or “Bakery”).  At times…