Amish in the News

MARSHALL COUNTY, IN – An Indiana man who was just released from prison for child molesting is back in police custody. He’s accused of raping an Amish woman who was at home taking care of her toddler.

BEAR LAKE, MI — Residents near Bear Lake in Manistee County were a little surprised when they began seeing Amish horse-drawn buggies on the roads.

SUGARCREEK, OH - The Ohio Division of State Fire Marshal determined the fire at the Walnut Creek Amish Flea Market was caused by a lightning strike the night before.

LANCASTER, PA - Over the past couple of years, Strasburg Township’s zoning office found itself fielding more and more requests from Amish to house horses on residential lots.

Some Amish farmers in Chester County are dealing with a nightmare situation: uninformed thieves in search of a free high.

The population of the Amish is projected to be greater than the current population of the United States in 215 years if the Amish growth rate, which has held constant for more than 100 years, remains the same. 

LITTLE VALLEY, NY — Amish children who have not been vaccinated will not be allowed to ride on school buses in New York state when school starts next month.

An Amish man who admitted to molesting four girls when he was a teenager was sentenced to prison Thursday by a Dauphin County judge.

SUGARCREEK, OH — The Walnut Creek Amish Country Flea Market suffered extensive damage from an early morning fire Wednesday.

PARKMAN, OH - Many hands make light work, or so the old saying goes. It was certainly true for this group of men from the Amish community around Parkman, Ohio. A couple of hundred men gathered to manually lift and move a shed for a friend in need.

DARLINGTON, WI — Seven Amish girls, one as young as 3, were sexually abused by older male relatives, according to criminal complaints filed Aug. 9 in Lafayette County Circuit Court.

DALTON, WI - Marquette County resident David Miller held a tape measure between the spokes on his horse buggy Friday at his family's rural residence in the town of Buffalo near Dalton.

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, IN - An Allen County couple are inheriting an unusual manufacturing venture – building horse-drawn buggies for the area Amish community.

As seems customary, or maybe just lucky, clear skies, a bright sun and balmy weather greeted the 2019 edition of the Amish Clearview School Quilt and Consignment Auction held July 27 at the school grounds on Highway 104 between Brodhead and Albany in Green County. The annual auction—this was the 23rd annual—is held to benefit the Clearview school serving the 40 or so children from the Amish families in the area.

ELIMSPORT, PA — It was standing-room only at the Washington Township supervisors meeting Monday, with Amish community members standing along a wall and some unable to make it into the packed social hall.

ERIE, PA - State Police in Warren are still investigating an incident in which an Amish buggy was shot with a BB gun, injuring a young girl who was inside.

ELIMSPORT, PA – “Don’t let anger control” is the message the Rev. Mike Hill says he hopes to convey to parishioners Sunday at Elimsport United Methodist Church.

ELIMSPORT, PA – “Blatant discrimination” is what an attorney for Old Order Amish says about proposed ordinances in a rural Lycoming County township that would require horses on public roads to wear a device to collect feces and to have rubber horseshoes.

CANTON, NY — A horse that was observed galloping down the road Friday evening near the corner of County Routes 21 and 25 is back with its Amish family.

WOOSTER, OH - An Ohio trooper was forced to conduct an unusual traffic stop when he spotted a runaway horse pulling an Amish buggy without anyone at the reins.

DELTA, PA - A compassionate pizzeria owner had a reputation for ensuring that his Amish neighbors never went hungry—so when his rural restaurant later burned down, they were sure to repay their debt.

FARMINGTON, IL — Authorities said Thursday that it was unlikely a 16-year-old would be charged with manslaughter for crashing his truck into the back of a Mennonite buggy two weeks ago, saying it didn’t appear the boy was drunk or driving recklessly.

CALIFORNIA TOWNSHIP, MI — Amid gently rolling hills in southern Michigan, there was nothing gentle about what happened during a June collision between the old world and new.

Pennsylvania has a large Amish population, particularly in Lancaster County, who move around on state roads by horse and buggy. Horse and buggy traffic is increasing in eastern P.E.I. with the arrival of Amish settlers there.

CHISHOLM TOWNSHIP, ONTARIO — At time when public schools in large urban areas like North Bay are amalgamating and schools are up for sale, the need for elementary education is growing in Chisholm where the Amish community hopes to break ground later this year for their second parochial school.

FARMINGTON, MO - Visitation for a 7-year old boy who was killed when a pickup struck the horse-drawn buggy he was riding in was Monday.

ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY, MO — A small cross with flowers sits on the side of Highway OO in Fredericktown. It was not there as of Thursday afternoon.

A Moultrie County judge last week awarded guardianship of an elderly Amish woman to the woman’s daughter, capping a fight that has spilled from the insular world of the Amish to the civil court system.

BERLIN, OH — The board of directors of an Amish Mennonite-run charity rocked by revelations that one of its workers sexually abused dozens of boys in Haiti has now placed two of its top officials — Paul Weaver and Eli Weaver — on leave pending an investigation as they have acknowledged that they allowed a confessed pedophile to return to Haiti, where he then continued to serially rape young boys. The man is currently free after fleeing back to the United States, but the organization believes he should be sent back to Haiti to face up to his crimes.

An attorney for Wallace J. Schmucker, 55, of Punxsutawney filed a motion to modify his bail to allow him to be released and return to a treatment facility.