Scholar offers insight into Amish culture

Although the Amish religion was established in Switzerland in the 1500s, "There are no more Amish in Europe," Dr. Steven Reschly, a history instructor from Truman State University, told about 85 people Sunday afternoon at the quarterly meeting of the Vernon County Historical Society in the Bushwhacker Museum.

In the 1930s, the last Amish group in Europe merged with the Mennonites, Reschly said.

Reschly, who was raised as a Mennonite in southeast Iowa, has written two books on the Amish, "The Amish on the Iowa Prairie, which was named as the 2002 Book of the Year by the Communal Studies Association, and was co-editor of "Strangers at Home: Amish and Mennonite Women in History." In 2003-'04 he taught at the Martin Luther University in Germany as a Fulbright Senior Scholar and in 2007 taught two courses at the University of Rostock in Northern Germany.

When asked about Amish traditions, Reschly said that they vary and each district sets its own rules.

"Almost nothing is universal with the Amish," he said.

The Amish range from very conservative Old Order Amish to more liberal groups.

One of the differences between the Old Order Amish and the more liberal groups, is that Old Order do not build churches, instead holding their services every other week in homes, while the more liberal groups do build churches.

He said that the Amish first arrived in America in 1727 and settled in Berks County, Penn., with a second group settling in Lancaster County, Penn., which is the location of the best known Amish settlement in the country. From there they spread to other parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana in search of less expensive land to farm.

"They were at the cutting edge of farming at that time, using the manure from their livestock to fertilize the soil," he said.

The Amish continued to move west until they reached the Great Plains.

"It's very difficult to be Amish west of central Nebraska. Their farming methods don't work with dry land farming where irrigation is needed," Reschly said.

He said that Amish are currently in 27 states, with an estimated 27,000 in Ohio, 37,000 in Pennsylvania and 8,800 in Missouri. In 2003 there were 49 Amish districts in Missouri with 25-30 families in each district.

There are a number of small communities in many states, he said.

He said the first Amish arrived in Audrain County, in north central Missouri in 1897 and were gone 19 years later.

A family from northeast Iowa settled in Jamesport, Mo., in 1950, establishing what has become the best known Amish community in the state.

He said that the Amish have always been willing to move to find cheaper land for their children to farm and currently it appears that the north central part of the United States is their area of choice.

Reschly said the Amish is one of several religions that are known to have had sleeping priests. He said that he knows of two, one in Iowa and a second one in Illinois.

These men would go into a trance and while in the trance would give a sermon appropriate for their surroundings, answer questions, walk around with their eyes closed, and when they would wake up the next morning, would not remember what they had said.

He said that Noah Troyer was the sleeping priest in Iowa and that when Troyer would go into a trance his body would be stiff and after about 30 minutes he would sit up, raise his hands over his head and pray before giving his sermon, which would last about three hours. Reschly said that during a sermon, someone once reportedly stuck a needle into Troyer's leg, which elicted no response.

Reschly said that the Amish follow all of the laws and pay income tax like everyone else. If they are self-employed they do not pay into Social Security, since they do not accept any Social Security benefits; however, if they work for someone else. they do pay into Social Security, although they will never collect the benefits.