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Amish in the heartland
By DEBORAH WILLIAMS © St. Petersburg Times, published April 8, 2001
Farmers dressed in black work the fertile brown-green fields with the help of shaggy Belgian horses pulling cultivators. This is said to be the home of the world's largest community of Amish people, who welcome outsiders -- or "English" as they call any non-Amish -- on their own terms, as the Amish cling to a way of life that seems more at home in the 19th century. English is actually the second language for the Amish, whose first is a Swiss-German dialect. About 35,000 Amish live in this north-central area of Ohio, between Cleveland and Columbus. It could be safely argued that this area defines the word "heartland." Before my visit, I knew of the Amish as deeply religious people who eschew all trappings of the modern world: electricity, phones, cars. I was surprised by the Amish I met, who were far more accessible and talkative than I expected. They do ask not to be photographed, because their interpretation of the commandment against "graven images" applies to photographs. Of course, no business is conducted on Sundays, a day devoted to four-hour religious services and family activities.
Joann Herschberger, who comes from an Amish family, was our guide to this other world. Her grandfather had been an Amish bishop (an unpaid lifetime post), and her great-great-grandfather immigrated to the area from Switzerland in 1785. When Herschberger was 2 years old, her father "jumped the fence" -- or left the Amish world -- and her grandfather stopped all contact with that family. "There are actually a broad range of Amish," Herschberger said, "and both the Amish and Mennonites, their close cousins, share the same Anabaptist theology and its central beliefs in non-violence and the baptism of adult believers." The Mennonite Information Center, on a hillside near Berlin, provides a good introduction to the history of this religious group. There, a 10- by 265-foot cyclorama, called Behalt (meaning "to keep or remember") traces Amish and Mennonite heritage from the beginning of the church in 1525 to the present. The circular mural by artist Heinz Gaugel provides insight into its subjects' self-image as victims of persecution by the Protestant and Catholic religions in the 16th and 17th centuries. Like so many others, they came to the United States for religious freedom. Over the years, they have earned reputations as superb farmers and craftsmen and as a self-sufficient people who take care of their own. "The Amish help one another building a barn or a house," Herschberger explained. "They don't believe in welfare, insurance or Social Security. "When the Amish buy a home from an "English' seller, they ask that the electricity be shut off. They don't consider electricity evil, but if they have it they worry they will become dependent on the outside world and be exposed to its influences through radio and television," Herschberger said. Some of the new order, or more acclimated, Amish will go so far as to allow a phone in a booth near the road for business purposes, although they will not allow one in their home. They will travel quite happily in cars, as long as someone else drives them. The Amish have their own one-room schools, through eighth grade. Most Mennonites, however, drive their own cars, live in modern homes with electricity and go on to higher education. At the Winesburg Carriage Co. in Winesburg, visitors can see fine examples of Amish carriages. All carriages are black, in keeping with Amish tradition. A stop for lunch at an Amish restaurant in Mount Hope demonstrated that they enjoy their food and seem to have a fondness for desserts. Wednesday is auction day in Mount Hope. Amish arrive from miles around in buggies loaded with chickens, pigs, pies and eggs, even a cow or two. Several buggies were parked in front of Lehman's Hardware and Appliances, a store filled with specialty items. The company, which includes the Mount Hope store and the larger main store in Kidron, was founded in 1955 by Jay Lehman to serve the Amish with non-electric appliances and tools. Almost everything in the store has a double appeal to a visitor: utilitarian and nostalgic. Need a cream separator? It's here. Or how about a "sad iron," a 3-inch-long iron with a highly polished bottom used to iron the white gauze hair coverings worn by Amish women. Tourists buy them to use as paperweights. We also visited Schrock's Amish Farm, near Berlin, where the main house is furnished in typical plain Amish fashion. Attractions for visitors include horse-drawn buggy tours, a quilt store where Amish woman create quilts and the walls are covered with their handiwork for sale, a store full of hand-crafted furniture and toys, a leather shop and a barn with farm animals. Credit cards are accepted by the practical Amish, and orders are taken for special quilts or furniture. * * * Deborah Williams is a freelance writer who lives in Holland, N.Y. If you go
The Inn at Honey Run, 6920 County Road 203, Millersburg, OH 44654; toll-free 1-800-468-6639; Web site: innathoneyrun.com; doubles from $85 to $150 per night. FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call toll-free 1-800-282-5393) or see the Ohio tourism Web site, www.ohiotourism.com. For Holmes County information, contact the Holmes County Chamber of Commerce, 91 N Clay St., Millersburg, OH 44654; (330) 674-3975. The Mennonite Information Center, 5798 County Road 77; (330) 893-3192. Lehman Hardware and Appliances Inc., One Lehman Circle, P.O. Box 41, Kidron, OH 44636; (330) 857-5757; e-mail: GetLehmans@aol.com. A must-see while in the area is Warther Carvings in Dover, a 30-minute drive from Millersburg. The museum, knife factory and gift shop are operated by second-generation and third-generation Warthers as a tribute and showcase to the incredible carvings done by Ernest "Mooney" Warther, a "master carver." Warther carved steam engines of ebony, ivory and pearl. The mechanized steamers actually run, and one has 11,000 parts. He even carved a working model of the steel mill where he worked for 23 years. Unable to find knives of the quality he needed for his work, he decided to make his own. The tour includes a visit to the original workshop, which houses an excellent collection of Indian arrowheads as well as Mrs. Warther's Button House, with 73,000 buttons arranged in artful designs on the walls and ceiling. The tour ends with grandson Mark carving his grandfather's signature wooden pliers from a wood block in just 10 seconds. Warther's, 331 Karl Ave., Dover, OH 44622; (330) 343-7513. Open daily. The last guided tour is at 4 p.m.
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From the Times Travel page
From the AP |
STAYING THERE: A perfect choice for an overnight in the Amish region is the Inn at Honey Run, a quiet retreat in the countryside outside the village of Millersburg. Though the owners are not Amish, the inn is filled with Amish furniture and crafts such as their famous quilts. No alcohol is served, but the food is first-rate and the dinner menu includes Lake Erie walleye and Holmes County trout. There are several miles of wildflower-lined, wooded trails.
