Amish

The night life is pretty dull though.

Plus, for raw speed and thrills this side of the Autobahn, you really can't beat roads like rt. 222 and rt. 283. Be forwared, as the PA police are quite nasty when it comes to speeders.

Unforutnately, the Amish can't take part in many of these activities. The only time that we ever really contact them is at farmer's markets (to the 2 or 3 elderly couples who go each weekend) or get stuck behind them in traffic. Trust me, there's nothing worse than being stuck behind Jacob and Mary Stoltzfus when you're late for work. Especially when the roads are so busy that it's impossible to pass the horse and buggy on either side, lest run off the road or be sideswiped several times by oncoming traffic. Oh, but there are times when that feels preferable to being stuck behind the damn horse and buggy.

The quickest way to tell the difference between tourists and residents are how they react with the horse and buggies. YES, it IS legal to pass them. You should try to do it as soon as possible, as well. Do NOT drive behind them taking pictures, as this only holds up the traffic for the rest of us. We live here, and we have places we need to be. Thank you.

Around 1720, the Amish began migrating to North America and first settled in southeast Pennsylvania, where a large settlement is still found. Because of tensions between traditional Amish and progressive Amish, during the next fifty years about two-thirds of the Amish either formed small, independent churches or joined either the Mennonite Church or the General Conference Mennonite Church. Those who continue the Amish lifestyle are primarily members of the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church.

The largest Amish settlements are located in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, and Kansas. The settlements are divided into church districts that are autonomous congregations composed of about seventy-five baptized members. Because they meet in each other's homes, the district is divided if it becomes much larger. There are no church buildings. Each district has a bishop, two to four preachers, and an elder.

The Amish differ little from the Mennonites in formal doctrine. Holy Communion is celebrated twice each year, and washing of feet is also practiced. Adults are baptized when they are admitted to formal membership in the church at about age eighteen. Services are conducted in what is commonly known as Pennsylvania Dutch.

The Amish are best known for their plain dress and plain living. Amman proscribed shaving and the use of buttons as "worldly conformity." The men wear broadbrimmed black hats, beards, but do not have mustaches. Homemade plain clothes are fastened with hooks and eyes instead of buttons. The women wear bonnets, long full dresses with capes over the shoulders, shawls, and black shoes and stockings. No jewelry of any kind is worn. The Amish also shun telephones and electric lights and drive horses and buggies rather than automobiles. The Amish are self-sufficient and are excellent farmers, although they often refuse to use modern farm machinery. Children attend public elementary schools but are not sent to high schools. This practice has caused the Amish some difficulty because of compulsory school attendance laws, and some Amish parents have gone to jail rather than allow their children to go to high school.

Am"ish (?), n. pl. [Written also Omish.] (Eccl. Hist.)

The Amish Mennonites.

© Webster 1913

Am"ish, a. [Written also Omish.] (Eccl. Hist.)

Of, pertaining to, or designating, the followers of Jacob Amman, a strict Mennonite of the 17th century, who even proscribed the use of buttons and shaving as "worldly conformity". There are several branches of Amish Mennonites in the United States.

© Webster 1913