Swartzentruber Amish

Last updated

The Swartzentruber Amish are the best-known[ citation needed ] and one of the largest and most conservative subgroups of Old Order Amish. [1] Swartzentruber Amish are considered a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, although they do not fellowship or intermarry with more liberal Old Order Amish. They speak Pennsylvania German as their mother tongue as well as English (with outsiders).

Contents

History

Swartzentruber Amish formed as the result of a division that occurred among the Amish of Holmes County, Ohio, in the years 1913–1917. The bishop who broke away was Sam E. Yoder. The Swartzentruber name was applied later, named after bishop Samuel Swartzentruber who succeeded him. In 1932 there was a split among the Swartzentrubers that resulted in the formation of the Troyer Amish in Wayne County, Ohio. In the early 1980s several church districts in Minnesota, Tennessee, and Ohio split from the Swartzentruber church districts elsewhere because of disagreements over shunning ("Bann und Meidung"). This group, known as the "Jeck Jeckey Leit" is now affiliated with the Nebraska Amish. In the 1990s two more splits occurred, resulting in three Swartzentruber Amish groups: the Joe Troyer group, the main group, the Mose Miller/Isaac Keim group and the Andy Weaver group. The Swartzentruber Andy Weaver group should not be confused with the Old Order Andy Weaver group. In this three-way split the Andy Weaver group is the most conservative while the Joe Troyer group is at the other end of the spectrum, leaving the Mose Miller group somewhere in between. [2]

Customs and technology

Riding in cars is prohibited among the Swartzentruber Amish, except in emergencies, whereas average Old Order Amish are allowed to use cars as long as they do not own them. Swartzentrubers are the most restrictive concerning the use of technologies among all Amish affiliations, see table below.

Affiliation [3] Tractor for fieldworkRoto- tillerPower lawn mowerPropane gasBulk milk tankMechanical milkerMechanical refrigeratorPickup balersInside flush toiletRunning water bath tubTractor for belt powerPneumatic toolsChain sawPressurized lampsMotorized washing machines
Swartzentruber NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoSomeNoNoYes
Nebraska NoNoNoNoNoNoNoSomeNoNoNoNoSomeNoYes
Swiss (Adams) NoNoSomeNoNoNoNoNoSomeNoNoSomeSomeSomeSome
Buchanan/MedfordNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoSomeNoYesYes
Danner NoNoNoSomeNoNoSomeNoYesYesYesNoNoYesNo
Geauga I NoNoNoNoNoNoNoSomeYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Holmes Old Order NoSomeSomeNoNoNoSomeYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Elkhart-LaGrange NoSomeSomeSomeSomeSomeSomeSomeYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Lancaster NoNoSomeYesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Nappanee NoYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Kalona YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Percentage of use
by all Amish		62025303535405070707070759097

Their style of dress tends to be heavier and plainer, especially in the case of women; only the Nebraska Amish dress in a more conservative style. Swartzentruber church services tend to be longer, even up to four hours. [4]

Like some other Old Order groups, they avoid the use of electricity and indoor plumbing. Many other common devices and technologies are also disallowed for being too worldly, including Velcro and bicycles. Swartzentruber farms and yards are often unkept. The Swartzentrubers discourage interest in outward appearance, as such an interest could promote vanity and pride. Their farms can be identified by dirt drives and surrounding roads, while most roads of the Old Order contain either gravel or paving to keep out the mud. The roofs of the houses and outbuildings are often made of tin. The clothing differs from that of the other Old Order Amish in subtle ways: all colors are dark and somber rather than the bright blues and mauves; more common is navy, dark burgundy, and even gray. The dresses of the women, rather than reaching mid-calf, usually reach to the top of the shoes. The brims on the hats of Swartzentruber men are four inches wide, wider than the brims of more liberal affiliations.[ citation needed ]

The tack on the horses and buggies is often all black, rather than brown leather. Swartzentruber Amish use reflective tape on the back of their buggies, in place of bright triangular "slow moving" signs for road travel, which they regard as too worldly. These buggies will also use lanterns, rather than battery-operated lights or reflectors. [5] The lanterns are also often staggered, one side slightly higher than the other, so as not to appear like the tail lights of a vehicle. There have been several court cases across the country where the state and county challenged the local Swartzentruber group to use the regulation orange triangle. So far, even as far as the federal Supreme Court, the Amish have prevailed, although statistics suggest that in areas where these groups exist, accidents involving buggies are more prevalent.[ citation needed ]

On September 13, 2011, nine Old Order Swartzentruber men were jailed for not paying a fine for refusing to display an orange reflective triangle on their horse-drawn carriages. [6]

Swartzentruber Amish normally do not allow teenagers to leave the community during rumspringa, [7] [8] although most of them allow teenagers to "court" in order to find a marriage partner, which includes hugging in a bed while being fully clothed and rocking in a chair together. [9] [10] [11]

Population and Church districts

As other conservative affiliations the Swartzentruber tend to have more children than the average Old Order Amish. In one sample that Kraybill et al. give, the average number of children born to Swartzentruber women was 9.3. Combined with a high rate of retention concerning their youth, the Swartzentruber have one of the highest growth rates among all Old Order Amish. Between 1991 and 2010 the number of church districts grew from 38 to 103, a growth of 171 percent. [12]

In 1936 there were three Swartzentruber church districts and in 1957, five, with approximately 200 families. [2] In 1944 a settlement was founded in Ethridge, Tennessee, which had ten church districts around 2013 with a population of 1,520 people. It is the largest Amish settlement in the South. [13] The settlement near Lodi and Homerville, Ohio, which was founded in 1952 had 14 church districts around 2013 with a population of 2,148 people. In 1975 the settlement near Heuvelton, New York, was founded, that had 12 church districts around 2013 with a population of 1,671 people.

As of 2000, the Swartzentruber Amish had 64 districts, 3,165 members, a total population of 7,101 in 12 states with 33 districts in Ohio alone. [14] There are nineteen districts of Swartzentruber in Holmes County and Wayne County, where the subgroup originated. The Swartzentruber share of the Old Order Amish is about 7 percent. [15] As of 2011 there were 119 Swartzentruber Amish church districts and 43 settlements in 13 states of the US as well as in Ontario, Canada.

Etymology

Swartzentruber is a Mennonite and Amish surname of Swiss origin, coming from the Trub river valley, located approximately midway between Bern and Lucerne. It has been thought to mean "seller of black grapes". [16] Other English spellings of the name include Schwartzentruber, Swartzendruber, Schwartzendruber, Schwarzentruber, and Schwarztrauber.

See also

Literature

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nebraska Amish</span> Most conservative Amish subgroup

The Nebraska Amish, also called Old Schoolers, are a relatively small affiliation of the Amish. They are the most conservative subgroup of Amish, indicated not only by their use of technology but also by their particular style of dress. They emerged in 1881 as a conservative split from the Byler Amish, who themselves emerged as the first conservative splinter group from the Amish mainstream in 1849.

The New Order Amish are a subgroup of Amish that split away from the Old Order Amish in the 1960s for a variety of reasons, which included a desire for "clean" youth courting standards, meaning they do not condone the practice of bundling during courtship. Tobacco and alcohol are also not allowed. They also wished to incorporate more evangelical elements into the church, including Sunday school and mission work. Some scholars see the group best characterized as a subgroup of Old Order Amish, despite the name.

Donald B. Kraybill is an American author, lecturer, and educator on Anabaptist faiths and culture. Kraybill is widely recognized for his studies on Anabaptist groups and in particular the Amish. He has researched and written extensively on Anabaptist culture. He is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Elizabethtown College and Senior Fellow Emeritus at Elizabethtown's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.

The Troyer Amish or Stutzman-Troyer Amish are a conservative subgroup of Old Order Amish.

Steven M. Nolt is an American scholar who serves as Senior Scholar and Professor of History and Anabaptist Studies at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. The author of fifteen books, most of which focus on Amish and Mennonite history and culture, Nolt is a frequent source for journalists and other researching Anabaptist groups. He was often quoted in the aftermath of the 2006 West Nickel Mines School shooting at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amish</span> Group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships

The Amish, formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches, a separate Anabaptist denomination. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view neither to interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible, and a view to maintain self-sufficiency. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility and Gelassenheit.

Over the years, as Amish churches have divided many times over doctrinal disputes, subgroups have developed. The "Old Order Amish", a conservative faction that withdrew in the 1860s from fellowship with the wider body of Amish, are those that have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. There are many different subgroups of Amish with most belonging, in ascending order of conservatism, to the Beachy Amish, New Order, Old Order, or Swartzentruber Amish groups.

The Andy Weaver Amish, locally also called "Dan Church", "Dan Amish" or "Danners", are a conservative subgroup of Old Order Amish. They are more conservative than average Old Order Amish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renno Amish</span> Religious denomination

The Renno Amish, also called Beachy Amish or "black toppers" are a subgroup of Amish that was formed in 1863 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They are the moderately conservative Old Order Amish group in Kishacoquillas Valley, locally called Big Valley, but still relatively conservative compared with the Amish of other regions.

The Michigan Amish Fellowship is a subgroup or affiliation of Old Order Amish. In 2022 this network of churches consisted of 33 settlements in Michigan, Maine, Missouri, Kentucky, Montana, and Wyoming. Stephen E. Scott described the affiliation which emerged in 1970 in Michigan as "Amish Reformist".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancaster Amish affiliation</span> Subgroup of Amish

The Lancaster Amish affiliation is the largest affiliation among the Old Order Amish and as such a subgroup of Amish. Its origin and largest settlement is Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The settlement in Lancaster County, founded in 1760 near Churchtown is the oldest Amish settlement that is still in existence.

The Buchanan Amish affiliation is a subgroup of Amish that was formed in 1914 in Buchanan County, Iowa. It is among the most conservative in the entire Amish world. It is the fourth largest of all Amish affiliations, having almost as many church districts as the Holmes Old Order Amish affiliation. Geographically it is more dispersed than any other Amish affiliation.

The Holmes Old Order Amish affiliation is a subgroup of Amish, that is almost only present at the Holmes-Wayne Amish settlement in Ohio. With 140 church districts there in 2009 it is the main and dominant Amish affiliation there, even though there were 61 another church districts of 10 other affiliations in the settlement. It is third in numbers of adherents of all Amish affiliation.

The Elkhart-LaGrange Amish affiliation is the second largest Old Order Amish affiliation and as such a subgroup of Amish. Its origin and main settlement lie in Elkhart and LaGrange counties in Indiana. While the Amish of Holmes County, Ohio, and adjacent counties split into several different affiliations in the last 100 years, the Elkhart-LaGrange affiliation remained united, but with a considerable internal diversity. The Elkhart-LaGrange affiliation had 177 church districts in 2011.

A Seeker is a person likely to join an Old Order Anabaptist community, like the Amish, the Old Order Mennonites, the Hutterites, the Old Order Schwarzenau Brethren or the Old Order River Brethren. Among the 500,000 members of such communities in the United States there are only an estimated 1,200 to 1,300 outsiders who have joined them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byler Amish</span>

The Byler Amish, also called Alt Gemee, are a small conservative subgroup of the Amish. They are known for the yellow color of their buggies, which earned them the nickname "yellow-toppers" and for wearing only one suspender. They are the oldest Old Order Amish affiliation that separated for doctrinal and not for geographical reasons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Order Anabaptism</span> Branch of Anabaptist Christianity

Old Order Anabaptism encompasses those groups which have preserved the old ways of Anabaptist Christian religion and lifestyle.

The New Order Tobe Amish, or often only New Order Tobe, are a small subgroup of Amish that belongs to the New Order Amish. In 1967, they split from the Tobe Amish, who in 1940 had split from the Troyer Amish, a very conservative group. They live in Ohio. They share an unusual mix of conservative and progressive traits. In contrast to other New Order Amish groups, they have a relative high retention rate of their young people that is comparable to the retention rate of Old Order Amish.

The Tobe Amish, also called Tobe Hochstetler Amish, Old Order Tobe Amish or just Old Order Tobe to distinguish them from the New Order Tobe Amish, are a small subgroup of the Old Order Amish, that emerged in 1940 through a split from the Troyer Amish. They live in Ohio.

The New Order Amish Fellowship or New New Order Amish, most commonly called New Order Christian Fellowship, is the most progressive affiliation among the New Order Amish. Because some scholars see the New Order Amish just as a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, the New Order Christian Fellowship is thus the most progressive affiliation among the Old Order Amish. In spirituality, they are close to Beachy Amish. Their use of horse and buggy transportation and their preservation of the German language distinguishes them from the Beachys, except for the Old Beachy Amish who have also retained the German language but drive cars.

References

  1. ↑ Brown, Joshua. "Wisconsin Amish". University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "An Amish America Q-and-A with Professor Karen Johnson-Weiner: Part Two". Amishamerica.com. 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  3. ↑ "Amish Technology Use in Different Groups".
  4. ↑ Who are the Swartzentruber Amish? - Amish Online Encyclopedia entry on Swartzentruber Amish technology, history, and customs.
  5. ↑ Mackall, Joe (2007), Plain Secrets: An outsider among the Amish , Beacon Press (published June 15, 2007), ISBN   978-0-8070-1064-8
  6. ↑ Stanglin, Douglas. "9 Amish men ordered to jail after refusing to put reflective orange signs on buggies". USA Today. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  7. ↑ Hurst, Charles E.; McConnell, David L. (2010). An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community. JHU Press. pp. 71–80. ISBN   9780801897900.
  8. ↑ Mackall J. (2007). Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish. Beacon Press. p. 65. ISBN   9780807010617.
  9. ↑ Stollznow K. (2014). God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States. Pitchstone Publishing. p. 29. ISBN   9781939578082.
  10. ↑ Hurst C.E., McConnell D.L. (2010). An Amish Paradox: Diversity and Change in the World's Largest Amish Community. Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 79. ISBN   9780801897900.
  11. ↑ Kraybill D.B., Johnson-Weiner K.M., Nolt S.M. (2013). From Rumspringa to Marriage: An Excerpt from The Amish. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 14. ISBN   9781421410470.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ Kraybill, Donald; Johnson-Weiner, Karen; Nolt, Steven (2012). The Amish. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 153, 157.
  13. ↑ "The Amish of Ethridge, Tennessee". Amishamerica.com. 2010-06-28. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  14. ↑ Kraybill, Donald; C. Nelson Hostetter (2001). Anabapist World USA. Scottdale, Pennsylvania: Herald Press. p. 68. ISBN   0-8361-9163-3.
  15. ↑ Kraybill, Donald; Johnson-Weiner, Karen; Nolt, Steven (2012). The Amish. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 153, 146.
  16. ↑ "Swartzentruber, Elmer G and N. van der Zijpp. "Swartzendruber (Swartzentruber, Swartzendrover Swartzendruver, Schwartzentruber, Schwartzendruber, Schwarzentruber, Schwarzentruver, Schwarztrauber, Schwarzentraub)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 January 2007".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.