To the stranger the names of the townships of Lancaster County are reminders of old country life, but to Lancaster they represent the religious settlements, made in its formative period, which are distinct today from the resident and adjoining settlements: Colerain, Little Britain, Fulton and Drumore represent the English Quaker who came with the Penns. East and West Donegal and Rapho, the Scotch Irish Presbyterians; Caernarvon, the Welsh dissenters; Warwick, the Moravian.
Larnpeter and Leacock townships were settled by the Amish, a religion distinct from all others by ita dress and manner of life, whose family names are practically limited to ten, intermarriage being most frequent. Other "plain folk" are centered around Ephrata and Breelmock, the Church of the Brethren and the Dunkard, its earliest religious settlement being that of the Seventh Day Baptist; Manheim and Manor, the Mennonite, and Sadsbury, the Scotch Presbyterian.
It is to this mixture of the old world peoples that Lancaster County owes its greatness, its wealth and prosperity, a County which never in its long history has known a crop failure, a catastrophe or a perceptible swing from its evenness of growth and prosperity.
"Are we dreaming," they ask themselves,"or have illustrated pages of history books come to life? Who are those quaint looking people?"
Lancaster County is in the heart of the Pennsylvania Dutch section. Its original settlers came from their native Rhine Valley in Germany at the invitation of William Penn. Here they found a welcome refuge from religious persecutions and the opportunity to carry on unmolested their chief occupation of farming.
For nearly two hundred and fifty years these Pennsylvania Dutch have lived and fanned in this rich agricultural section. Calmly they pursue their own interests, and faithfully follow the dictates of their churches, which control their manner of dress and mode of living. Neither time nor the advances of science have done much to change them from their settler forefathers.
It is hard to believe that a section so close to great metropolitan centers'has been so little affected by them. Philadelphia is but 60 miles east of Lancaster, and New York only 150 miles away.
The Pennsylvania Dutch are divided into three main sects: Mennonite, Amish, and Dunkard, all known as Plain people from their way of dressing. The Mennonites are the largest in number, and the other two follow in order. Each s6et is divided into a number of groups, each of which has minor varying practices and beliefs. The three denominations differ in their manner of worship and in their dress.
For consistency in observing all their old religious teachings, all their old religious beliefs, all their old stand- ards, and all their old quaint customs, the Amish are the most interesting and noteworthy, They are known as the plainest of the Plain sects.
The Amish are an off-shoot of the Mennonite Church, founded in 1632 by Menno Simon, a former Catholic priest. The name Amish (pronounced A-mish) was derived from that of Jacob Amen, a seventeenth century Mennonite preacher of Amenthal, Switzerland.
In 1698, certain dissatisfied members of the Mennonite faith severed connections with the parent church and formed what is now known as the Amish. This group felt that the letters of Menno Simon's teachings were not being followed in sufficiently strict fashion. Jacob Amen was the acknowledged and popular leader of the new group to which he gave his name.
The Amish first made their appearance in Pennsylvania in 1709, and by 1717 had found their way into Lancaster County, where they settled in the eastern section of this fertile farmland along the picturesque Conestoga River. To their little towns they gave such colorful names as Blue Ball, Bird-In-Hand, Intercourse, Smoketown, Bareville, New Holland, Morgantown, and Churchtown. Seldom will the pages of history reveal such long and faithful adherence to a Church as is shown by the Amish. To an outsider it may seem autocratic, but not to the Amish. They follow its dictates unquestioningly, for it is the faith their forefathers chose to adopt. And these good people of unstrained German stock seem none the worse for it.
Several factions have appeared among the Amish during the past two centuries, due chiefly to manner of worship. Their strict adherence to their Church, however, remains.
The two main divisions of the Amish are known as the Old Order and the Conservatives. In the year 1870 a split occurred in the Regular Amish party, when certain dissatisfied members broke away. Since then two other Amish groups have appeared, popularly known as "Wild Hickory Amish," and "Wild Amish." The last two groups are not looked on with much favor by their fellow religionists, for they are considered too "Worldly."
The Old Order are known locally as the House Amish. The Conservatives are called the Church Amish.
The House Amish adhere strictly to the religious teachings, beliefs and customs of centuries ago. All their religious meetings are held in their own homes. They use a different home every Sunday, and a different district every two weeks. There are thirteen of these districts.
Services are held every Sunday morning. Starting at nine o'clock, they last until noon. Benches are brought into the home for the worshippers and arranged in rows, with an aisle down the middle. Men occupy the benches to the right of the aisle, and the women those to the left. A few of the older people are permitted to use chairs.
They have no choirs nor Sunday Schools. The congregations sing in German, using their specially prepared prayer books and hymn books, or "hymnals." No regular meetings are held during the week, but on rare occasions when an Amish minister from another section pays a visit, out of respect to him they hold a special service in one of their homes. The visiting minister always preaches the sermon on these special occasions, which are sometimes held in the afternoon, but usually in the evening.
The Conservative Amish are a bit more modern, as they have three regular houses of worship. Their method of worship is essentially the same as that of the House Amish. Neither order have any form of Confessional, nor do they permit the use of musical instruments in their churches and homes.
German is the language still used at their religious services, weddings and funerals. Only adults are baptized by the Amish. This is done at the time they "join the Church," "turn Plain," or with the women, when they "take the bonnet." It is their belief that no one can become a truly religious man or woman until they are old enough to fully understand for themselves the true teachings of Christ, and to be capable of following them.
Each church is served by a minister, who is assisted by several deacons. Each church district is headed by a bishop, who is responsible for the. members in his charge.
No Amish officer of God is allowed to receive any salary. Nor do they accept any compensation at any time for any service rendered in connection with the church, weddings, or funerals. It is considered an honor and a duty to serve the Church. They earn their livelihoods from their farms.
Men are not especially educated for the ministry. Bishops, ministers and deacons are all chosen by lot. A number of candidates are called upon and each presented with a Bible. One of these Bibles contains a piece of paper. The one drawing the Bible containing this slip of paper is elected to serve in whatever office that is open.
Today there are thirty-nine ministers and thirteen deacons of the Old Order or House Amish in Lancaster County. The number of bishops cannot be ascertained, as some are very old and do not take active part in the affairs of the Church.
According to a special report made in 1931, the Amish population of this section was 2,200. Of these, 1,350 belonged to the Old Order, and 850 to the Conservative party. This excludes all those who, while they follow the dictates of the Church, have not yet been baptized. Wild Hickory and Wild Amish, as well as those "read out of the Church" or suspended for minor misdeeds for varying definite periods of time, ate also omitted from these figures. The inclusion of these would undoubtedly raise the total number of Amish in Lancaster County.
Divorces are forbidden because of their religious beliefs. But if either partner in a marriage should die, the other is privileged to marry again.
The Amish observe the same religious holidays as other Protestant faiths. Christmas and Easter are their main holidays, but unlike other Christian faiths, the Amish observe each of these with a two day celebration.
-Shrove Tuesday before Lent has a unique form of celebration among all the Pennsylvania Dutch sects. On this day, good Amish housewives along with their Mennonite and Dunkard neighbors, make a peculiar form of a doughnut, known as a "Fasnacht." This is a four-inch triangular or oblong piece of dough, usually sweeter than the regular doughnut, and lacks the hole associated with doughnuts. It is fried in the same manner as the doughnut, and often receives the same sprinkling with powdered sugar.
The name "Fasnacht" comes from the German for "Fast Night." It is the custom for these Plain people to conduct religious services the -night preceding the first day of Lent, during the entire day they fast.
Coffee is usually served at the end of these services, which is at midnight. The peculiarly shaped doughnuts are served with the hot liquid. People came to associate these sweets with Fast Night, or Fasnacht, and gradually the name "Fasnacht" was applied to the goody, as well as to the day. Shrove Tuesday is known locally as "Fasnacht Day." "Fasnachts" are seldom made at any other time of the year.
In addition to the regular holidays, the Amish celebrate several of their own. Little is known about these Amish festivals by outsiders. When a member of the Amish faith was asked about them, he explained in typical fashion.
"We do not work on these days. That's how we know it's a holiday."
The Old Order, or House Amish, never put up Christmas trees, nor exchange many gifts. The few inexpensive gifts that are given go only to members of their immediate families.
Children are not taught to believe in Santa Claus, because to their way of reasoning, this would be practicing deception, and thus give the children a wrong start in life.
Charity with the Amish is a religious duty to such an extent that they take entire care of their own. None of their members are permitted to become public charges, nor to be enrolled with any relief agencies.
His religion enters into every phase of the Amishnian's life. It has become so integrated with his existence that it can be truthfully stated the Amish lead truly religious lives. Nowhere else in America can be found a Christian religion that has been so carefully and faithfully followed for so long a period of time as that of the Amish.
His farm is truly an Amishman's kingdom. Ever since they cleared their land and laid out their fields, the Amish have remained close to the soil. It is their sole means of existence, and they take justifiable pride in it.
As farmers, the Amish have no superiors. Lancaster County is known as the "Garden Spot of America" mainly through their efforts. For returns per acre and cash value of crops, this county has long led the rest of the farm sections in the country.
Long before science and the newspapers preached the virtues of rotation of crops, these thrifty, capable Amish farmers were practicing this. Their long years of success attests to the wisdom of their method. Most of their farm work, with few exceptions, is done with man and horse power. While they raise other crops, the farms of Lancaster County are noted chiefly for their tobacco. In mid-summer, 'when riding through the gently rolling country of the Amish section, field after field of these sturdy, graceful many-leafed green plants, greet the eye. The neatly planted tobacco averaging three feet in height when fully grown, are the main money crop of the Amish farmers. Carefully they tend them, from the hot beds where they raise tiny tender plants from seed, to the fields where they set them out by hand in straight, even-spaced rows. During the growing season the farmer guards his plants from weeds and blight, spraying when necessary.
After the plants mature, a few chosen ones are allowed to flower and go to seed for the next year's crop. After the tobacco is cut, it is hung on racks and carried to the big barns for drying. Ifere they are placed high up, out of the way. The Amishman's barn is so constructed that the wall boards may be opened out at regular intervals to allow for the maximum sunshine and air for the drying tobacco.
When the leaves are sufficiently brown and aged, the farmer either takes his crop to a nearby tobacco warehouse for sale, or to a cigar factory in Lancaster. This he usually does early in the winter.
A striking fact about the Amish is that the majority own their farms free and clear. As far as known, there have never been any Lancaster County Amish who applied for or accepted Federal Farm Aid. Grants of this nature they consider as loans, which they can get along very well without. "Needless borrowing" has no place in their scheme of living.
An interesting problem was raised by the Amish when the Federal government enacted a bill to reduce tobacco acreage. Because of their "conscientious objections," the bill was amended to exclude them. The Amish farmers were willing to reduce their acreage according to the provisions of the Kerr-Smith bill, and only too willing to accept compensation for such reducions. But the Amish Church bans all signed contracts.
Their bishops preach an Amish man's word should be as good as his honor, and in the light of the Church, all Amishmen are trustworthy.
The first year the law was in effect, Amish farmers voluntarily reduced their acreage without receiving a cent of benefit money from the Government. Had it not been for a referendum held in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Ohio, they probably would have done so the following year.
As a result of this referendum, however, growers who did not sign the acreage reductions contracts were liable to a 33 1/3 per cent tax on the sale price of their tobacco.
T his Penalty meant the placing of an unbearable hardship on the average Amish farmer, who farms on a comparatively small basis, and is handicapped by not being allowed to use amortized farm machinery because of religious reasons.
The Amish farms, with their neat, fenced fields, interrupted here and there by a clump of water-storing trees or a pasture dotted by placidly grazing plump cows, breath forth an air of calm, security and magnificent complacency that is unparalleled. Proudly focusing the activities of the farm is the farmhouse.
Wooden shutters, often painted blue, trirn the windows of the bright red two and a half story brick homes. Demurely surrounding each is a smooth sweep of greets lawn, enlivened by brilliant red tiger lilies, peonies and roses. A roofed porch, unadorned by railings, juts out from the front of the house to serve as a gathering place for the family on warm summer evenings after the chores are done. A wooden fence separates the house from the farm fields.
The interior of the Amish house is as immaculate as its surroundings. While her husband has built for himself an unexcelled record as a farmer, the Amish housewife has kept pace with him in her own sphere. As the expression goes, "You can't beat the Dutch as housekeepers." To enter the house, a visitor knocks on the door, as door-bells are not used. The place of honor in every Amish household is the parlor. Here the best furniture is kept, and often the only rug in the house. Facing the front of the house, its dark green window blinds are always kept tightly pulled down to prevent the sun from fading the simple furnishings. The only time light is let into the parlor is when the minister calls, or church services are held there. On no other occasions is the parlor used.
No pictures adorn the walls of an Amish home, not even the parlor. Plain, un-upholstered furniture serve their needs. In this they are guided by Church law.
The kitchen is the main gathering place of the Amish family. Meals are cooked here on the big iron wood-burning range and served on the large round table occupying the middle of the big room. A worn couch often stands in a corner for a resting place for the tired man of the house when he comes in from the fields.
Upstairs are the bedrooms, simply furnished. A bed, an odd chair and a wash stand are found in each room. Some still use old rope beds. Closets are not prevalent in Amish homes, and a curtain across a corner usually serves as a shield for the clothes hooks. Running water upstairs, or even downstairs, is a rarity in Amish homes.
Illumination is furnished chiefly by oil lamps and gasoline lanterns. Electricity is frowned upon by the Church, which gives for its reason that there is no Biblical ordinance which condones its use. Therefore, the Amish housewife uses washing machines operated by gasoline or water power. For the preservation of foods, she uses an ice refrigerator, or an old ice box. A great many use spring houses.
Furnaces are also banned by the Church. In winter the only room in the house that is heated is the kitchen. If a visitor comes to call, a small kerosene stove is carried into the parlor. A guest cannot announce his coming by telephone, for the Amish do not have them in their homes.
You can always tell an Amish home by the blue gate. Blue is the favorite color of the Amish. This can easily be verified by driving through the Amish section any wash day (which is Monday) and observing the numerous blue garments hanging on Amish wash lines. The use of this color for everything from their clothing to their walls has led to the interesting legend of the "Amish blue gate."
Many, many years ago when the Amish settled in Lancaster County, the story goes, church meetings and "socials" weddings and funerals-were not held with any regularity due to the difficulty of travel. Gradually it was noticed, with alarm, that marriages were occuring with less frequency, much to the detriment of the Church and to Pop's pocketbook.
After services one Sunday morning, several of the worried fathers got to talking together as they hitched their horses and wagons.
"I've got two daughters that want marrying," stated one father in a harassed voice.
"Two?" scoffed another. "I've got four!" A timid-speaking man attempted to allay the woes of the over-burdened fathers. "I've got a son that favors getting married!"
The timid soul was almost crushed to the ground by the onslaught of fathers. Finally, he regained his equilibrium and his breath. The fathers promised to behave.
A long harangue followed between the fathers of daughters and the father. Mothers stamped furiously on the porch of the house where the meeting was held, and vexedly urged their unwed daughters to be patient. They waited and waited.
At long last the fathers came to an agreement. It was decided that the following Wednesday night-the usual courting night-the eligible son was to call at the house of a certain father who had made the most advantageous offer. He was to recognize the house by its blue gate.
The following Sunday the church service was not followed with the customary devoutness. Louder and more eloquently the minister preached, but greater grew the restlessness of the congregation. Puzzled, the minister uttered his last "Amen."
As soon as he could decently do so, the minister got hold of one of the men. "What's been the trouble this morning, brother?"
"If this wasn't Sunday," replied the man, "and if I weren't a God-fearing man, I'd break every man in this church in two! Of all the low-down, dirty tricks .... !
The minister was genuinely concerned. what's all this about?"
"But tell me, "Last Wednesday night," the man said, controlling his ire, "my son went courting. He was to call at a certain house that had a gate painted blue. And what do you think? Every man along that road who has a marriageable daughter painted his gate blue!"
So the sign of a blue painted gate grew to be the advertising sign of an Amish daughter ready to marry. The Amish are quick to deny the truth of this story. As one prominent member of this seat said, "The Amish don't have to resort to such a crude method to get their daughters married."
The legend of this "Amish blue gate" really started about thirty years ago. At that time a certain Amish bishop lived along the Lincoln highway, east of Lancaster.
He was a leading member of the Church, and as such, received many visitors from distant parts. To simplify directions, visitors were told to ask the conductor of the trolley car that ran out that way to leave them off at the "blue gate," the chief distinguishing mark of the bishop's home.
This particular blue gate was somewhat of a landmark in the neighborhood, as it was the only one so painted. The only reason the bishop's gate was blue was because he happened to like the color.
As he was so prominent in the Church, many Amish patterned the color of their gates after the bishop's. Hence the prevalence of "blue gates" among the Amish.
This particular bishop is still living and is in good health. But in place of his famous "blue gate," there is now a modern wire fence in front of his residence.
The eye-catching feature of the Amish is their quaint dress. For over two centuries they have clung faithfully to the styles prescribed for them by the founders of their Church.
Unconcernedly they frequent the streets of Lancaster and nearby towns in their picturesque clothes, unmindful of the dictates of fashion. Many strangers, upon seeing them, ask, "Why do they wear such strange costumes?"
Today their styles do appear to those unfamiliar with them as masquerades. But when they were adopted, they were the fashions of the simple people of that day. The Amish persist in the wearing of their simple garments as the outward symbol of the simple, plain life they choose to lead.
From the babies in arms to the aged grandparents, the Amish all dress "plain." The little boy, scarcely able to toddle, is dressed just like his father. His ankle length, cuffless black trousers open down both sides at the waist where they are buttoned. Plain black elastic suspenders button onto the trousers to hold them up. A belt is never worn.
Over their home-made shirts, Amish menfolk wear dark colored, high vests. Their coats are collarless, and like their vests, are fastened with hooks and eyes. The Church says the use of buttons on such garments might tend to too much frivolity. During the cold weather a heavy jacket, known as a "wammus" is worn by many men. Others wear long overcoats with deep circular capes.
On Sunday the Amish men wear white shirts with straight ended narrow black bow ties. All of the men wear their hair long, or in a "Dutch bob." This is kept in trim by some member of the family by the good, old- fashioned bowl method, as it is against their beliefs to patronize barber shops. Broad-rimmed, shallow crowned black felts are prescribed for them by the Church.
A few of the men carry a watch made of nickel or silver, but never of gold or platinum. This is the entire scope of masculine jewelry. They never wear caps, belts, sweaters, nor colored neckties.
The Amish young men shave until they get married. Then they raise beards, but never mustaches. The sign of "sprouting whiskers" is the sign of their marriage to their friends.
Bonnets feature the dress of the Amish womenfolk. This has earned for.' them the name "Bonnet Women." Styled similarly to old-time sun bonnets, they are made of a straight piece of stiffening covered with cloth, and come well out over the face and just clear the shoulders on the sides. The backs are loosely gathered onto the stiff front piece, which covers the entire back of the neck. Lengths of the same material tied under,the chin with neat, precise bows keep the bonnet firmly on the head.
At all times, whether indoors or out, the Amish woman wears a small white lawn cap over the knot of hair drawn tightly to the back of her head. This is known as a prayer cap, and follows the ordinance as laid down in I Corinthians 11:2-16 ". . . every woman that prayeth or prophe- ;sieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head . . ."
The Amish woman's dress is ankle-length, gathered at the waist onto the smooth fitting, long-sleeved waist. Covering the waist is a black shawl that falls to a point at her waist both in front and in the back. A matching, knee-length black apron tied at the waist always covers her skirt. She always wears black cotton stockings and high-laced, flat-heeled black leather shoes. In winter she generally protects herself with a large, fringed woolen shawl.
Little daughter's dress does not vary from that of Mother, except she is not permitted to wear the white giprayer cap" until she "joins the Church." Like her mother's, the little Amish girl's dress is always closed with hooks and eyes because of the same fear of frivolity that restrains the men folk in her family.
The most startling thing about the Amish women's clothes is their use of color. For contrary to expectation, they do not always wear black dresses, but indulge to a great extent in their love for blue. The most popular ,shade is a cross between Yale blue and royal.
The Amish woman is very handy with her needle, for not only does she make all her own clothes, including bonnets, but those of her husband, sons and daughters as well. The only phase of this gigantic sewing task that is simplified for her is that of design, for she can always follow the same patterns.
As her great-great-great-grandmother did her share to help her husband get food and shelter for their family, so the Amish woman of today aids her husband. She, too' gets up before dawn to hurry to the kitchen to light the wood-burning stove. In most cases she still has to go to the shed attached to the kitchen to pump water for the coffee, and to heat for the family's ablutions.
From the time she reaches the kitchen, the Amish woman has little time during the day to call her own. She still bakes all her own breads and pastries, cooks three meals a day for her hard-working husband and his helpers, besides doing all the household chores. These include cleaning, for she is an immaculate housewife, tending the chickens, and mending.
Several times each week, usually Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, Amish farmers take their produce to the public markets'in Lancaster. Since the passing of the picturesque curb markets, they gather in large market houses with their neighbors, the Mennonites and Dunkards, and sell their wares under the supervision of their protective farmer associations.
Here each engages his stall and arranges his goods in artful display-crisp green heads of lettuce are piled at one end of the counter, with dark-green topped bunches of scrubbed carrots next; beside these are evenly matched stalks of white celery fastened together with bright red string, nearly the shade of the luscious tomatoes next to, them. Perhaps some young spring chickens, immaculately cleaned and trimmed with sprigs of parsley, are placed next, with gay bouquets of yellow and pink flowers in tall vases to provide a climax for the front row display.
On almost every stall is found a willow basket, lined with ablue and white checked cloth and filled with big, fresh eggs, whose price s asked by the formula "What are eggs?" said so rapidly as to sound like "water eggs?" Sometimes there are big, red, juicy apples, roughly shaped packages of home-churned butter, and real country cheese.
Besides these usual farm products are often found specially prepared foods from the farmwife's kitchen. Shoofly pie, that molasses concoction peculiar to the Pennsylvania Dutch, is present in several sizes; pickled red beets, and hard boiled eggs, freshly made pans of potato salad, as well as downy breath-taking angelfood cakes, bread and rolls tempt the unwary marketer. All sorts of preserves and jellies, examples of the "seven sweets and sours" that every good Amish table offers to guests, cookies, including pink-frosted gingerbread men, home-cured meats, not forgetting the noted Lebanon bologna, "schnitzen." dried apple slices, and even somewhat thick home-made potato chips, all solid and substantial, as they are made by Amish women for market trade.
The purchaser is confident he is buying fresh foods without the farmers assurance, for he knows that the maker of these tem,ting delicasies rose early in the morning, long before the rooster to prepare them.
Market day to the Amish woman means not only in- creased activity in her kitchen, but it is to her still a day of social intercourse. It is really only at the market place that she sees her friends and has a chance to exchange gossip and recipes. It is she in her picturesque bonnet and sometimes bright dress who adds color to the interesting spectacle which seems so quaint and is yet so real as if history had stood still. Too, these market days in town are the only opportunity she has to make her purchases, all paid for in cash, which are always necessities, and never luxuries.
Sometimes the returns from the sale of the edibles prepared by her are given to the farmwife. Unlike most women, who upon obtaining some extra money, indulge in small luxuries, these thrifty, plain women save their money either for a rainy day or invest it in some needed household appliance.
After the Amish girl marries, she is restricted to black bonnets for Sundays. All forms of jewelry are taboo, including wedding rings. When Amish marry, it is a signal for great rejoicing. Most of their weddings are held in November and December, after the harvesting is over. It is not an uncommon sight to see twenty or thirty young Amish couples appear on one day at the County Courthouse in Lancaster for marriage licenses at this season.
Thanksgiving is a popular day for Amish weddings, as they usually declare this a holiday. The ceremony begins about eight o'clock in the morning at the home of the bride, and lasts all day, and well into the night. Orange blossoms and veil are not seen at these weddings.
After the ceremony is over, all the menfolk, except the bridegroom, leave the house for outdoor games, while the women prepare the bountiful wedding repast. Dinner is served at noon. After everyone has been feasted to his utmost capacity, they devote the afternoon to playing games and singing hymns.
Supper is served at six o'clock, after which the wedding party spend the evening playing games and telling riddles. The usual wind-up of festivities is about eleven o'clock. Following the time-honored custom, the bridegroom is picked up by his men friends and tossed over a nearby fence. Then is he truly married. The Amish take no wedding trip, or honeymoon.
One of the favorite games of the Amish, who are jolly people, is that popularly known as "Clap Hands." It is played in pairs, the two participants sitting face to face with their knees touching. Following a simple pattern of smacking their own knees with the palms of their hands, then the hands of their partner, they can make a real rough and tumble sport out of this game.
Bundling is a custom popularly connected with the Amish. The Amish deny the truth of this and indignantly state that they have no need to resort to such means to marry off their young people.
The horse and buggy era has not passed for the Amish. Since the Church forbids the use of automobiles, they must rely on their old faithful friend, the horse. The Amish take great pride in possessing fine horses, of whom they take excellent care. They are all very skillful drivers, from the young to old.
When courting, the young Arnishmen always drive in buggies with no tops. On courting nights, Wednesday and Sunday, dozens of these simple buggies with their load of two or four giggling young people primly dressed in their best, can be seen slowly trotting along the country roads while automobiles speed by them.
The older people always drive in covered black wagons. According to an old Amish custom, this procedure is never reversed. None of their wagons or buggies have dashboards-these are needless affectations, they say-but they do have a spatter curtain between the shafts and the body of the carriage.
Their custom of using horses and wagons as their sole means of transportation instead of, the more modern automobiles led to an interesting problem with their schools. For many decades the Amish were accustomed to send their children to small, one room brick schools in their neighborhoods.
Eleven of these old-fashioned schools were sufficient to teach the Amish children their three R's. To these the children could walk without any undue hardship.
The quiet of the schoolrooms was suddenly interrupted in 1936 when the P. W. A. granted $56,250 for the purpose of erecting a new consolidated school house in East Lampeter township in the heart of the Amish district. Not only were the Amish opposed to receiving Federal aid, but the erection of the new school would mean that their children could no longer walk to school, but would have to ride in school busses.
Furthermore, the new consolidated school was to include high school classes. The erection of the new school meant to the Amish the rolling of many evils into one, namely.-Federal aid, riding in school busses, high school, and what they feared most, intimate contact with many children of faiths other than theirs.
This last objection reveals an interesting sidelight on the character of the Amish. While they are very cordial to their "short-haired" -neighbors and live among them peaceably, they prefer not to allow their children to become too intimate with them' lest they forget the ways of their forefathers. The little one-room schoolhouses, when often, 25 out of 26 children were Amish, better suited their purposes.
They are opposed to high school education because they fear too much education might help destroy some of the old religious teachings, beliefs and customs which they try so hard to preserve. Eight- grades of schooling are sufheient for their needs.
Their chief objection to too much schooling and a too close contact with "outsiders" is that they do not want their children to learn to wish for anything in life other than that prescribed by the Amish Church.
Several of the leading members of the Amish Church, casting aside for once their natural reticence, appealed to the courts to withdraw the P. W. A. grant to build the consolidated school. It was a seven day wonder to officials in Washington, when these Amish made their almost unprecedented request that the Federal government take back something almost everybody elsewhere was trying to get.
Despite their pleas, however, the loan was made and the school erected. Although their religious convictions are opposed to it, the Amish will have to send their children to the consolidated school, as progress marches on without their consent.
While the children are taught English at school, the language commonly spoken by the Amish is Pennsylvania Dutch. This is a corruption of the low German they spoke when they came to America so many years ago. The pure German is retained for their church services, weddings and funerals.
Their great familiarity with German and their "Dutch" tend to give the English spoken by the Amish a picturesque flavor. They speak with an almost inimitable sing-song, with an invariable up-inflection at the end of each sentence. Moreover, their phrases and expressions are uniquely local. For example:-"outen the light"-to turn out the light. "Penesick child"-sickly child. "The paper wants three killed in that accident"-the paper says three were killed in that accident. "The paper wants rain"-the paper predicts rain. "Spritz, the lawn"-sprinkle the lawn.
The Amish are very prompt in the payment of all their taxes. The majority of their business dealings are trans- acted on a cash basis, as they do not believe in any installment business. Life insurance is never bought by the Amish. They do have a certain form of fire insurance among themselves. If one of their homes or barns is destroyed by fire, certain designated members of the seat i 'mmediately take up a collection at every Amish home in Lancaster County of that particular order.
Not only is money collected, but all those who are able lend a helping hand to the unfortunate one by assisting him or her to erect a new home or barn. These faithful co-religionists stay right on the job until the work is entirely completed.
In the exercise of their duties as citizens, the Amish are as conscientious as their Church allows. As early as 1718 they wrote to'William Penn asking him to express his views on their responsibility to participate in court procedures and public oflices.
The Amish do not serve on juries. Nor do they ever enter any court of law for the purpose of bringing suit. All differences are arbitrated, when necessary, by the Church. Most of the Amish men of voting age exercise that privilege, but to get the women to vote requires an election contest concerning their schools. Only three members of this sect have been known to hold public office in Lancaster County, and all served as school directors.
Because of their religious scruples, the Amish have been exempt from military service since the Revolutionary War. During the World War they showed their patriotism by raising a substantial purse for the Allies.
The Amish are very modern when their health is concerned, for they select the best doctors, dentists and hospitals available. Religion plays no part in this, for Amish law frowns on any member of their sect becoming a doctor, or a lawyer.
There are no "pow-wows" among the Amish. They subscribe to the daily newspapers printed in English and German, but not to the Sunday papers.
While it is against their religion to have their photographs taken, this has often been done without their consent. Some of the Amish will ride in railroad trains, street cars, and even automobiles, if the occasion warrants, but never in airplanes.
Only a back-sliding Amishman will be seen at theatres, moving pictures, circuses, county fairs, amusement parks, dances or sporting events. Swimming is the only sport not frowned upon by the Church.
Public sales are the main social event of the Amish. 'These sales take up an entire day, and are very popular. Young and old attend these sales which last late into the night. While the men attend to business, buying ,everything from a rooster to a bedstead, the women catchup with their gossip. This is always a big day for the young Amish men, for it gives them an opportunity to play one of their favorite outdoor games, called Corner Ball. This is played with a soft ball made of darning cotton covered with leather. The game is limited to 12 players, six on each side, though fewer can play. It resembles Hand Ball,'in that the hand is used for a bat. With skilled players, this game often becomes almost a free-for-all.
While there might be a few deviations from the old Amish standards, as a general rule the Amish are a peaceful, industrious, thrifty, neighborly, law-abiding people. They tend to their own business, respect the rights of others, and desire nothing more than to be left alone to work out their own problems in their own quaint way.
Unmindful of the ways of modern man, the Amish, especially the Old Order, calmly continue to follow all the old religious teachings, all the old religious beliefs, all the old standards, and all the old customs as established hundreds of years ago. The world goes on, but the Amish dutifully follow those precepts which have served so well their particular needs and ideals, and firmly cling to the faith of their fathers.
Known for their keen devotion to their farms, the Amish aroused nation-wide comment late in the fall of 1939 when it was announced they were planning to migrate from Lancaster County to St. Mary's County, Maryland. Why should these farmers leave the soil they have tended and worked for over two hundred years? What was caus- ing them to leave their rich farms and strong family ties and take up worn-out Maryland soil? Why were they lured to the neighboring state?
The social phenomenon of a closely woven group suddenly picking themselves up and moving was startling. In the face of modern economic conditions how could they be so foolish as to give up the security of their long-inherited farms and experimeiit with a new settlement?
St. Mary's County, to which the Amish moved, is worked-out land. The soil is badly depleted and neglected. In many instances the farmhouses and outbuildings are so dilapidated that they are barely able to hold together. The land they left behind in Lancaster County the Amish sold for the average of $250 an acre.
The first group who took possession of the Maryland land was made up of seven families. They took with them approximately $44,000 realized from the sale of their farms. $25,000 of this they invested in almost 2,000 acres of less fertile, but "promising" land in Maryland. The little colony outside Leonardtown is the first Amish settlement established outside Pennsylvania in a century. Before that groups had settled in Mifflin, Somerset, and other western Pennsylvania counties. The colonists sought land outside Pennsylvania, because of the "overdevelopment" of Lancaster County and the other Amish centers.
There are three main reasons for this recent niigration. First, Amish parents believe that they should give farms to their sons when they marry. The large number of Amish weddings in recent years and continuation of this custom of giving land to young couples has caused farm prices to rise. It is probable that a large part of the newly acquired Maryland land will be given to young couples.
Second, the Amish farmers are known for their superb skill in tobacco raising. As has been said, it is their chief money crop. The tobacco raised in Lancaster County is used as fillers for cigars. Maryland, also, is noted for its tobacco. But the tobacco raised in the more southerly climate is used for cigarettes and brings greater prices when sold. The Amish, in moving to Maryland, hope to capitalize on their skill and increase their profits from the cultivation of tobacco.
Third, recent curtailment of religious and educational freedom of the "plain folk" by Pennsylvania officials was also largely responsible for their leaving the state. The school controversy will be treated later.
The new Amish settlers in Maryland made the natives open their eyes with amazement when they set about to build barns. The idea of erecting barns before houses were put into shape apparently was new to the Marylanders. But they did not know the Amish. It is a time-honored custom of theirs to provide barns for their livestock and crops before they provide dwellings for themselves, and is typical of true farming folks.
When the farmers of Maryland saw how the Amish erected their barns, they were stupefied. Take for example, the erecting of Benjamin Stoltzfus' barn-the first put up in the new settlement.
Word went back to Lancaster County that Mr. Stoltzfus, a leader of the migration to Maryland, had finished the foundation for his barn and a raising was in order. Although it was in the middle of their March plowing twenty-five Amish set out to do the job, carrying tools with them.
Wielding saws and hanimers, they started work at daybreak, knocked off at noontime for dinner, and at nightfall the barn was ready for business.
"The striking part," said a newspaper account of the event, "is that the barn was built all in a day. Stoltzfus paid not a cent for labor."
The twenty-five Arnishmen in their wide-brimmed black hats, who swarmed about Benjamin Stoltzfus' place knew how to go about the job of building a barn. There was no lost motion, and accounts of the raising said there appeared to be no boss, nor general superintendent. It was genuine example of co-operative effort.
As is customary at all their barn raisings, the Amish womenfolk accompanied the men to Maryland. They took home-canned foods, dried apple schnitz and shoo-fly pie with them. When the noon-time rest hour was called, the hard-working carpenter-farmers dug into a hearty, healthy meal. All the food was piled on the long table at once, and the hungry men ate their fill. Then they went back to work.
Despite all the comment aroused by the move of the Amish, it is hardly conceivable that all the Amish will desert Lancaster County for Maryland. And it will take a great many years and much hard, labor by many hands to bring the sandy soil of Maryland to the same degree of Nourishment as the proud, limestone soil of Lancaster County farms.
No words on the Amish or any of the Pennsylvania Dutch would be complete without some special note on their Cooking, for which they are justly famous.
The very names Schnitz un Knepp, Ponhaus, Shoo-fly Pie, or Fasnachts seem to conjure up the aroma of a good oldtime Pennsylvania German dinner. Their dishes are as solid and substantial as these good farm women, and tempt with the plain, delicious, wholesomeness of their offerings.
One of the quaintest bits of hospitality of the Pennsylvania Dutch is the celebrated custom known as the "Seven Sweets and Seven Sours." This the good Amish woman of the house faithfully follows. Tradition has it that the housewife must set the table with precisely seven sweets and seven sours. Woe betide the woman who fails to serve precisely seven sweets and seven sours, for her guests look for them and count them!
These famous sweets and sours usually consist of various forms of preserves and pickles, all home-made. Sweet pickles will balance sour pickles, and pickled eggs and red beets will check with ginger tomatoes. Rhubarb jam, strawberry jam, brandied or spiced peaches, apple butter, chow chow, mustard pickles, pickled red cabbage, and pickled pears are among the list from which the Amish woman selects her seven sweets and seven sours.
