Amish America

An Amish America Q-and-A with Professor Karen Johnson-Weiner: Part Two

In the previous post, SUNY Potsdam Professor Karen Johnson-Weiner answered questions on Amish settlements in New York state.  Today she shares her knowledge of the Swartzentruber Amish.

Amish America:  Could you explain who exactly the term ‘Swartzentruber’ refers to?  In what ways do the Swartzentruber Amish differ from ‘mainstream’ Amish?

Professor Karen Johnson-Weiner:  The Swartzentruber Amish, arguably the plainest of the “Plain People,” originated in the dissension that developed in Holmes County, Ohio, in the early 20th century over whether those who had left the church in which they had been baptized should be placed in Bann. For Bishop Sam Yoder and his followers, leaving one’s church to join a non-fellowshipping congregation was breaking the baptismal vow and and anyone who did this had to be excommunicated and shunned.  In contrast, the majority of the Amish in Holmes County felt that as long as one had left for another Old Order church-community, this response was not appropriate.  By 1917, Yoder and his followers had ceased to fellowship with the majority, even though the majority had been to adopt more conservative guidelines designed to appease the Yoder faction.(i)

In 1931, the Sam Yoder group experienced another schism when Bishops Jacob J. Stutzman and Eli A. Troyer disagreed with Bishop Sam Yoder, again over discipline within the church.  Stutzman, Troyer, and their followers were known first as the “Stutzman Gmay,” but this group has since became known as “Troyer Amish.”(ii)

Following Yoder’s death, each of the two Sam Yoder church districts was led by a Bishop surnamed “Swartzentruber,” and so the Sam Yoder group soon became known as “Swartzentruber Amish.” Swartzentruber church-communities grew as families from other regions moved to Ohio to join the Swartzentruber church, many attracted by the more conservative Ordnung that was guiding Swartzentruber practice.  By 1936 there were three church districts and by 1957, five, with approximately 200 families.  By 2007, there were Swartzentruber settlements in thirteen states and one Canadian province.

Further Division

After Sam Yoder and his followers ceased to fellowship with their Old Order Amish neighbors, the divide between the descendents of each faction increasingly widened. Amish historian David Luthy notes, for example, that the Old Order Amish in Holmes-Wayne Counties often make fun of the long hair and untrimmed beards of Swartzentruber men by calling them “gnudle Woola,” meaning the kinks found in sheep’s wool before shearing.  In turn, the Swartzentruber Amish recognize their Old Order Amish counterparts as different from the “English” or non-Amish, they also see them as “not like Swartzentrubers.”  As one young Swartzentruber woman put it, “I think we’re more in the Amish side [in comparison to more progressive Amish groups].  They [those other Amish] are strange or different.” Another Swartzentruber woman classified Old Order Amish friends in Ohio as “sotleit” or “others,” noting that “they’re still Amish because they don’t drive cars.  Those that drive cars are Mennonites.”

How many affiliations or groups would fit under the Swartzentruber label?  Which are the largest and where do they live besides the Holmes/Wayne County settlement in Ohio?

Since the initial break with the Old Order Amish, the Swartzentruber Amish have experienced a number of internal conflicts, and there are now several distinct Swartzentruber subgroups.  In the early 1980s, for example, several church districts in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Ohio ceased fellowshipping with Swartzentruber church districts elsewhere because of disagreements over Bann and Meidung.  This smaller, breakaway faction, now known as the Jeck Jeckey Leit (Jeck Jecky people), continues to fellowship with Nebraska Amish church districts in the Big Valley area of Pennsylvania and elsewhere.(iii)  

In the early 1990s, many in the Swartzentruber community were distressed by what they saw as unruly and inappropriate behavior among Swartzentruber young folk, particularly in the Ohio church-communities. The issue came to a head when several young Swartzentrubers, playing music on a radio they should not have had, disturbed a Swartzentruber minister, who tried to chastise them.  The boys then struck the minister and fled. (Richard Stevick discusses this incident in his book Growing Up Amish: The Teenage Years.)

The incident caused uproar in the Swartzentruber world.  Although the minister first claimed not to have recognized the boys, he later agreed with a milk truck driver who identified the participants. Later, when one of the boys wanted to join church, the minister refused to baptize him unless he made confession. The boy refused to do so and denied his involvement.  At that point, another young man, already a church member, said that he had been one of the group and that the other boy had not, and he offered to put himself under the Bann. The minister refused to accept the confession, and his recommendation that both young men be excluded from the church-community threatened to divide the church.(iv) 

A number of attempts were made to resolve the conflict, but neither side was willing to give in. Afraid that showing leniency would encourage wild behavior among the young people, one faction supported the hard line taken by the minister, but the other faction was concerned about what seemed to be an overly strict application of the Bann. Finally, under the leadership of Joe Troyer, one of the oldest Swartzentruber bishops in Holmes County, the majority agreed that it was “unscriptural to be so strong in one’s thinking.”(v)   Accordingly, the one boy was baptized and the other was taken out of Bann.   

In response, two bishops, Eli Hershberger and Moses [Mose] M. Miller, withdrew from fellowship with the others.  As one Amish observer put it, “they felt the other bishop has taken two liars into the church.”  Other bishops, notably Isaac Keim and Andy Weaver from Lodi, Ohio, joined Hershberger and Miller, and the Swartzentruber churches divided.(vi)    The larger faction became known as the “Joe Troyer church”, or simply “Joe Church.”  The smaller, dissenting group, under the leadership of Moses Miller, became widely known as the “Mosey Mosies” because there was more than one “Moses” in a position of leadership. 

In 1998, the Mose Miller group again divided, this time in response to a conflict between Lodi Bishops Andy Weaver and Isaac Keim.  While Bishop Mose Miller sided with Bishop Isaac Keim, other leaders took Bishop Andy Weaver’s part, and the church membership divided accordingly.  Thus, today, there are three non-fellowshipping Swartzentruber groups: the Joe Troyer churches, the Mose Miller/Isaac Keim churches, and the Andy Weaver churches. 

Could you comment on how easy or difficult it has been to work with members of  Swartzentruber communities?  Specifically, is it more challenging to win the trust of Amish belonging to these groups, as an outside researcher?

I don’t know whether the Swartzentruber Amish are easier or harder to get to know.  When I began to explore Old Order life, the Amish I first met were Swartzentrubers, and I have been fortunate (blessed!) to have developed some good friendships.

As you point out, the Swartzentruber Amish reside at the conservative end of a diverse range of Amish affiliations.  It is interesting to learn that diversity is a fact of Amish society with real-life implications.  How do the Swartzentruber Amish interact with ‘higher’ affiliations?  And how much interchange occurs with members of other ‘low’ groups, such as the Nebraska Amish?

The Swartzentrubers interact with other Amish groups.  Many/most have friends and/or relatives who belong to more progressive affiliations.  They prefer to keep to themselves, however, and the new settlements are notable for being established far from other kinds of Amish.  Interestingly, when the Swartzentruber settlement in the Heuvelton area was having difficulty keeping the cheese factory going, they sought help from the Troyer Amish in the Conewango Valley.  When it became clear that the cheese factory would fail, and the Swartzentrubers opted to adopt bulk milk tanks (a big change!) they looked to see what the (very conservative) Byler Amish were doing in the Mohawk Valley.

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Part Three of this Q-and-A with Karen Johnson-Weiner will cover Old Order education and schooling.

Swartzentruber home at day's end

Notes from an Ohio Amish funeral

I attended the funeral of an Old Order Amish man while in the Holmes County settlement over the weekend.  A few observations:

• Around 200 attendees, mostly Amish, with all four major affiliations represented:  Old Order, New Order, Andy Weaver (aka 'Dan church') and Swartzentruber.
• There were only a handful of non-Amish present--mainly consisting of a few plain Mennonites.
• The Amish funeral takes place in the home, shop or often a barn, as they can be quite large.  Although customs vary between groups, it typically resembles a church service, with two preachers, one of whom delivers a sermon of around 20 minutes with the second lasting around an hour.
• Differed from a church service in that there was no opening singing, and only one song was sung at the close, mainly by a small group of men. 
  
• Before the funeral began, men and boys proceeded to greet each other by walking around a circle and shaking hands and then taking their places at the end of the circle, forming an ever-increasing ring (as is done before church service on Sunday). 
  
• The mood in the circle was surprisingly festive, with a good bit of visiting, smiling and laughing going on.  One of the Amish men whom I drove to the occasion said he was quite looking forward to it, reflecting the function of the event as a social occasion as well as one in which to pay respects to the deceased.
• At the end of the funeral, attendees filed past for a final brief viewing.  Few tears were shed;  an Amish father raised his five-year-old boy up by the arms for a look into the coffin.  
• The service was followed by a meal, served 'cafeteria-style', which allowed more people to be fed, more quickly.  This apparently is the customary way to do it, as funerals typically have from 300 to 500 attendants and even up to 1000 (This one was on the small side).

More Orange County, Indiana Amish photos

 

A few more of Cindy Seigle's Orange County, Indiana Amish photos with a few of my own comments attached.

Again, we aren't 100% sure which of the two Orange County groups each particular picture is from, but apparently there are similarities between the two groups when it comes to dress and technology.

In this photo you can see obvious signs of a lower-order buggy--no SMV triangle, side-view mirrors, or windows.         

The father's bob-style haircut is typical of the Swartzentruber group, but again, as there are similarities in appearance between the two settlements, he could in fact be a member of the Paoli group.

Some Amish kids enjoy large playgrounds with softball diamonds.  Others make due with what they have.  Meyers and Nolt write that Orange County Amish schools are likely the most austere in Indiana.  Still looks like a lot of fun.

Slowly but surely.  By foot is sometimes the simplest way to go.       

Some people express surprise at seeing more mainstream Amish in sneakers and tennis shoes.  Though I'm not sure that the lower-order groups in these photos would approve of such footwear, comfortable modern shoes are common in many Amish communities. 

In any case, the Amish do not avoid comfort for the sake of suffering.  Amish appreciate comfort as much as you and I do.  Technological restrictions and dress guidelines help to preserve community by serving as a symbolic separation from the world and hampering destructive outside influences. 

 

Open-front buggies are also a sign of a more conservative Amish group.  Many Amish venture into town quite frequently to do shopping or on general errands. 

Do the Amish ever live in town?  In some communities, such as Topeka, Indiana, or Mount Hope, Ohio, a large percentage of a hamlet's residents are actually Amish.  Sometimes elderly Amish will move into town, and some will sell their horse if they become infirm or find they are able to manage without it. 

Steel wheels are par for the course for most Amish-owned farm equipment.  Rubber is used in some groups but is less common.  Steel wheels work fine in the fields, but are a bit 'unhandy' on asphalt, which is the point. 

I remember listening to a steel-wheeled tractor approach on a rural byway near Kalona, Iowa.  You could hear it quite a long way off.  Things are not always to quiet and peaceful in Amish America. 

Thanks again to Cindy for the great photos.

Orange County, Indiana Amish reader photos

Cindy Seigle has shared some interesting photos of a conservative Amish settlement in southern Indiana.

In An Amish Patchwork, Meyers and Nolt explain that Orange County is home to two distinct Amish communities. 

The newer of the two groups is comprised of ultraconservative Swartzentruber-affiliated Amish from New York and Ohio who began settling in the area in 1994. 

 

The older of the two groups, which originated in other settlements in Indiana and Pennsylvania and is known as the Paoli group, is in many respects highly conservative as well.

Meyers and Nolt explain that both groups observe similar technological restrictions--very plain dress, buggies without storm fronts or lights, and very restricted use of 'Amish taxi' providers, for example.

 

But the groups are not identical, and in fact are unaffiliated with one another.  The authors explain the key difference:

'Yet in many ways unlike their tradition-minded Swartzentruber neighbors, the Paoli group has staunchly opposed older customs surrounding traditional courtship practices or adult smoking habits.' 

'The Paoli settlement is notable for this combination of intentional traditionalism and intentional reformism.  Their refusal to compromise on issues they deem important has led them to not affiliate with any other Amish settlements in the state.'

I am not sure which community Cindy's photos are from.

As the authors describe the two settlements as being adjacent to one another, the photos may very well be from both communities.

Click for more of Cindy Seigle's Orange County Amish photos.

The Amish Dairy

Some Amish dairymen still use the old-style milk containers to transport their milk, as seen in this photo taken in Swartzentruber Amish country in Ohio.

Lancaster Amish are allowed to use mechanical milkers, which has helped to allow that particular community to retain a relatively high percentage of functioning dairies.  Amish barns will have a special tank to store the milk, and to cool and agitate it.  The milk is typically transported from udder to tank using steel containers.  After seeing all the splashing around that goes on in the typical milk barn, it makes me glad for pasteurization.  I'm not so sure I would drink raw milk, popular among many Amish some of whom sell it to the general public, supposedly as a healthier, richer.

Typical dairies have from 40 to 50 cows.  A few may milk up to 60 or 70.  That usually requires some help, with some Amish employing a hired hand.

The milkman comes around any day but Sunday, usually every other day.  The Sunday exception may mean late-night and very early morning milk pickups.  I've been at Amish homes when milk trucks have come by after dark, near 10 pm. The typical farmer, who wakes up anywhere from 3 to 5 in the morning for the first milking of the day, learns to schedule in the very necessary post-lunch nap.

Buggy-friendly America

Across America in places where the Amish have set up shop, local businesses and government authorities have had to adapt some practices to accomodate the preferred Amish mode of transportation. 

Traffic Jam off County Road 77 in Holmes County, Ohio

Sometimes an Amish group showing up in an area can lead to disputes with locals over horse mess or hoof damage on roads.  The smarter businesses, or at least those that hope to attract more Amish customers, usually get a hitching post up in front as soon as possible to make themselves buggy-friendly.

Wal-Mart in Millersburg, Ohio

Road signs warn drivers of the presence of buggies.  The designs of such signs are specific to state and even individual community.  Stephen Scott's Plain Buggies contains photographs outlining the differences in buggy warning-sign design in states such as Ohio, Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania.  Generally they all consist of black silhouettes on a yellow background, but with different artists' renditions of the vehicle.  Why the difference?  Perhaps due to the fact that they are maintained by state and local authorities rather than a federal body which might be expected to produce more uniform signage.

New Bedford, Ohio

In certain Amish communities, such as that of Allen County, Indiana, the buggy silhouette on local signs is a crude approximation of a topless carriage, as Allen County Amish use only this type.   

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania

Most Amish conform to law by utilizing some form of reflectorized material or lighting to warn drivers of their presence.  Most find this to be a sensible compromise--they allow their transportation to be adorned with a man-made symbol, yet benefit from increased safety, while promoting the safety of car-drivers as well. 

Swartzentruber Amish, Wayne County, Ohio

Interestingly, the Swartzentrubers are among the only groups which refuse to use the familiar slow-moving vehicle triangle, while the 'white-top buggy' Nebraska Amish, considered by some to be the most conservative of all Amish, choose to use the triangle.  The Swartzentrubers have been criticized for this not only by outsiders but by higher-order Amish as well. 

Nebraska Amish, Northeast Ohio

At night, bicycle riders will often trail directly behind buggies to benefit from the safety offered by the buggy's size and blinker system.  Some of these buggies are extremely well lit up.  Yet lights are not a foolproof measure of protection.

Holmes County, Ohio

I recall stopping my truck at dusk to offer help to an Allen County, Indiana family whose battery had gone out.  I had barely seen their darkened open carriage and suggested that I drive behind them to give them a little bit of protection until they reached home.  They kindly refused, as apparently they were already near their destination, and the road was just a secondary gravel road.  Good it wasn't a main one.

Near New Wilmington, Pennsylvania

Despite driver awareness, lighting and reflectors, buggies are still frequently involved in accidents with automobiles.  I've had a few close calls myself.  The trickiest thing is underestimating the speed at which they travel. 

Buggy lights appear quite similar to car lights--which is good and bad--good, as you realize that something is there, bad in that you often expect whatever it is to be traveling as fast as a car, until you realize that it's not a car at all.

A sheep shearer's journey down the Holmes County Trail

Holmes County locals had a really nice idea a few years ago--to convert an old train bed into a multi-purpose pedestrian and horse trail.

The Holmes County Trail was the result.  The paved part actually stretches from Wayne County--Fredericksburg--around ten miles down to Millersburg, the Holmes County seat.  It continues on in both directions unpaved.  Motorized vehicular traffic is banned.

Local Amish consulted on construction of the trail, with the result being a very accomodating design--half of the trail covered in a smoother asphalt, allowing bikers and walkers an easier ride, with the other side a rougher 'chip-and-seal' surface, easier for horses' hooves to grip.


Heading back to Fredericksburg from Millersburg on a September bike ride, I bumped into a friendly Swartzentruber fella clunking along on a return trip from all the way down in Knox County, which borders Holmes to the southwest.  He had already been on the road around eight hours that day, with a pit-stop at the Millersburg Wal-Mart.


'Isaac' is a sheep-shearer, and fairly well-known in the community.  Some of my New Order Amish friends were familiar with him when I brought him up the next day. 

Isaac is apparently quite a mean shear and a good deal to boot and seems to be frequently in demand.  On this particular outing he had spent a couple days at the sheep farmer's home while completing the job, as is his typical custom.  Swartzentruber Amish are only allowed to hire cars in dire circumstances.  So for jobs like the one that Isaac was on, he has no other choice but to hitch up and hit it.
 

Isaac had stopped by the side of the road and was in the process of lighting his oil lamps to hang on the sides of his open rig.    Dusk was fast approaching and the heavily shaded trail had grown dim. Swartzentruber Amish are among the few groups that will not use battery-powered lights on their transportation.

Isaac and I chatted awhile before I handed him a switch he'd dropped and we headed on down the road.  The impending dusk had us both thinking about home.

Seems I would be getting there a lot sooner.  I estimated Isaac had at least another two hours of travel to reach his final destination in Wayne County.  I wonder how he passed the time on the way, or how anyone on such a long journey would, with no radio or companion to chat with.  I suppose things like thinking and praying would be popular activities for lone riders. 

Just you, the horse, and the open road.  Must take some getting used to.

Advice worth heeding

The lanes leading to the homes of the Swartzentruber Amish are primitive.  They are usually dirt, with perhaps a few stones mixed in.  A dirt lane can be interesting after a downpour.

This is the first time I've ever seen this type of warning.  I imagine the families who live on this farm in Ohio have had their share of mud-stuck vehicles.

This reminded me of the time an Amishman rescued me from a ditch in Daviess County, Indiana.  I had unwittingly driven down what I later found out was one of the 'three roads in the county you shouldn't go down after a rainstorm'--after a rainstorm.  Luckily he had a tractor that made short work of yanking my little sedan out and onto firmer ground.

 
But back to the Swartzentrubers, considered to be among the most conservative of all Amish.  Click to find out more about Swartzentruber homes.  Or try this link for more on controversy surrounding members of the Swartzentruber group.

Ohio's Nebraska Amish

Many people have seen photos of the fairly well-known 'white-top buggy' Amish.  This group is based mainly in Pennsylvania's diverse Big Valley region.  They are most commonly known as the Nebraska Amish, named after a Nebraska-based bishop who helped the group get started in the late 1800's .  Referred to by Steven Nolt as 'the most conservative of all Old Orders', they are also called the 'Old School Amish'.

Not everyone knows that there is a tiny community of Nebraska Amish separate from the main group, located just over the border in Ohio.

Curiously, despite being considered by many to be even more conservative than the Swartzentrubers, this particular group uses the SMV (Slow-Moving Vehicle) signs on the backs of their buggies, something the 'Swartzies' (as my higher-order Amish friends call them) staunchly refuse to do. 

Bill Coleman's photos of Nebraskans in PA show that some use the SMV while others don't.  This particular bunch also has some fairly modern-looking signage, advertising their home businesses.  Swartzentruber signs, say those advertising baskets or produce for sale, are usually more primitive looking, scrawled out by hand.

 

John Hostetler says there are three different affiliations of Nebraska Amish in Mifflin County, PA.  Perhaps this is a slightly more progressive bunch.  Unfortunately, being a brief visit, late on a Sunday, I did not have a chance to talk to anyone here. 

I do have an acquaintance among the New Order Amish of Holmes County who used to live in this community.  He seems glad to be out of it.  The New Order's big sticking point with many lower-order affiliations is the focus on tradition over 'truth'.  The New Order criticizes lower orders for allowing things like tobacco and immoral dating practices.  They also believe strongly in assurance of salvation, a belief, truth be told, also showing up in some Old Order groups, but generally not.