Subgroups of Amish

The table below indicates the use of certain technologies by different Amish affiliations. The use of cars is not allowed by all Old and New Order Amish, as well as radio, television and in most cases the use of the internet. The three affiliations: "Lancaster", "Holmes Old Order" and "Elkhart-LaGrange" are not only the three largest affiliations, they also represent the Old Order mainstream among the Amish. The most conservative affiliations are above, the most modern ones below. Technologies used by very few are on the left, the ones used by most are on the right. The percentage of all Amish, who use a technology is also indicated approximately.

[4] * Natural gas allowed

The Nebraska Amish are perhaps the most conservative group of Old Order Amish. They live mostly in Pennsylvania but they also have one small settlement in Ohio. Around 1880, Bishop Yost H. Yoder led nine families from Juniata County, Pennsylvania, to Gosper County in south-central Nebraska, founding an Old Order settlement that would last until 1904. Yoder went back to the Kishacoquillas Valley in Pennsylvania in 1881 to assist a conservative Amish group. Because bishop Yoder was living in Nebraska for some time, and the group was nicknamed the Nebraska Amish by others.

Like other Old Order Amish, the Nebraska Amish do not use motorized equipment or indoor plumbing and wear very conservative clothing. Differences include the fact that the men do not wear suspenders and the women do not wear bonnets (wearing black kerchiefs and flat straw hats instead). Other differences include the fact that they do not place screens on their doors or windows, men only wear white shirts, curtains are not used in homes, buggy tops must be white, men's hair must be shoulder length, no lawn mowers are allowed and houses must not have projecting roofs.

As of 2000, the Nebraska Amish had 14 districts, 775 members, a total population of 1,744 mostly in northeastern Mifflin County, Pennsylvania.[5]

The Swartzentruber Amish are an Old Order Amish group that is about as conservative as the Nebraska Amish but much more numerous and therefore much better known. They formed as the result of a division that occurred among the Amish of Holmes County, Ohio in 1917. The bishop who broke away was Sam E. Yoder. The Swartzentruber name was applied later, named after bishop Samuel Swartzentruber who succeeded him. There are nineteen districts of Swartzentruber in Holmes County and Wayne County, where the subgroup originated. Now there are groups of Swartzentruber Amish settled in 15 other states, with the largest group in the U.S. located in the Holmes/Wayne County settlement.

Swartzentruber Amish speak Pennsylvania German, and are considered a subgroup of the Old Order Amish, although they do not fellowship or intermarry with more liberal Old Order Amish. 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 buttons, Velcro and bicycles. Swartzentruber farms and yards are often unkempt. 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 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.[6] 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.

As of 2000, the Swartzentruber Amish had 64 church districts, 3,165 members, and a total population of 7,101 in 12 states with 33 districts in Ohio alone.[5] As of 2011 the Swartzentruber Amish had 119 church districts in 15 states.[7]

The Buchanan Amish affiliation was formed in 1914 in Buchanan County, Iowa. It is among the most conservative in the entire Amish world.[8] It is the fourth largest of all Amish affiliation, having almost as many church districts as the Holmes Old Order Amish affiliation. Geographically it is more spread out than any other Amish affiliation.

The Swiss Amish immigrated to the United States mostly in the middle of the 19th century directly from Switzerland and the Alsace and not in the 18th century via the Palatinate as most Amish did. They do not speak Pennsylvania German, but either a form of Bernese German or a Low Alemannic Alsatian dialect.[9][10][11] Their main settlements are in Adams County, Indiana (Bernese Amish) and in Allen County, Indiana (Alsatian Amish). They form two distinct Amish affiliations.

The Swiss Amish are more conservative concerning the use of technology than the majority of the Amish. Characteristic of the Swiss Amish is the use of open buggies only and the marking of graves with plain wooden stakes bearing only the initials of the deceased.[12] The Swiss Amish are notable for their yodeling which they took from their Swiss homeland. Yodeling is an important symbol of their particular Swiss Amish identity.[11]

In Holmes County, Ohio, the Andy Weaver Amish were formed in 1952 over the issue of shunning. They are less conservative than the Swartzentruber Amish but more conservative than the Old Order main body. Compared to them they have greater restrictions on farm, business and home technologies, a stricter interpretation of shunning, stricter youth regulations and a greater tolerance of alcohol and tobacco.

There are about 30 Andy Weaver districts in the Holmes County settlement and some more outside of Holmes County, including settlements in Ashland County, Ohio, and in upstate New York.

In 1932 bishop Eli A. Troyer withdrew from the Swartzentruber Amish and began the Troyer church in Wayne County, Ohio. He did this over several issues, one of which was hat brims.

Swartzentruber wore hats the same as the rest of the Amish up to this time. Up to 1942 free moving from one sect to another was also allowed without penalty in the Troyer Church.

The Troyer church eventually moved to numerous locations in Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and Canada as did the Swartzentruber Church.

As of 2011 the Troyer Amish had 53 church districts in 6 states.[7]

The Byler Amish were formed in 1849 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Byler Amish buggies have yellow tops in contrast to normally black (Ohio, Indiana), gray (Pennsylvania) or brown tops. As of 2000, the Byler had three churches in Mifflin County and are also affiliated with districts near New Wilmington, Pennsylvania.[13]

The Renno or Peachey Amish, also called "black toppers", because they have buggies with black top, were formed in 1863 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Their Ordnung allows men to wear only one suspender, while women wear black bonnets.[14] As of 2000, the Renno Amish had about a dozen church districts primarily in Pennsylvania.[15]

The Holmes Old Order Amish affiliation is third in numbers of adherents of all Amish affiliation. It 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.[16]

The Elkhart-LaGrange Amish affiliation is the second largest Old Order Amish affiliation. Its origin and main settlement lies in Elkhart and LaGrange counties in Indiana. It is quite liberal compared to other Amish affiliations concerning the use of technology.[17] Regulations of the Ordnung may vary considerably from district to neighboring district. It was present in 3 states in 9 settlements with 177 church districts in 2011.

The Lancaster Amish affiliation is the largest affiliation among the Old Order Amish. Its origin and largest settlement is Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. The settlement in Lancaster County, founded in 1760, is the oldest Amish settlement that is still in existence.

Even though the Lancaster affiliation is quite liberal concerning the use of technology, compared to other Amish affiliations, it is an affiliation that practices strenge Meidung (strict shunning).[18] Lancaster affiliation buggies have gray tops.

Lancaster affiliation had 141 church districts in 1991 and 286 in 2010.[19] In 2011 it was present in 8 states in 37 settlements with 291 church districts.[20] It represents about 15 percent of the Old Order Amish population, that is about 45,000 out of about 300,000 in 2015.

The Tobe Amish, or Tobe church, was a splinter group from the Troyer Amish, formed in the 1940s. Eventually, they returned to the main Old Order body, but retaining some distinctive pattern of dress and buggy style.[21]

In the spring of 1942, Troyer bishop, Abe Troyer moved to close the door between sects by excommunicating those who joined another sect of Amish outside of the fellowship and when the dust settled, the excommunicated families, led by Tobe Hochstetler, were called the Tobe church. The Tobe church remained mainly in Wayne County, although they split into Old Order Tobe and New Order Tobe.

The Michigan Churches or Michigan related Amish are an affiliation of Old Order Amish, that emerged in 1970 in Michigan. This affiliation is more evangelical and more open to outsiders, so-called seekers, than other Old Order Amish affiliations.

The Beachy church arose from a 1927 division in the (Casselman) River Old Order Amish congregation in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.[23] Bishop Moses M. Beachy led the congregation during that time and his name became associated with the faction. The Beachys favored a milder discipline for members whose only offense was transferring membership to other Anabaptist churches, specifically the conservative Amish Mennonite congregation that broke from Moses Beachy's congregation (then not under Beachy's leadership) in 1895.[24]

In contrast to the Old Order Amish, the Beachys have meetinghouses, Sunday School, and a Bible School for young adults, and most also support missionary work. Excommunication is used less frequently and accompanying bans are even rarer.

Most Beachy churches today more closely resemble the Conservative Mennonites rather than the Old Order Amish. The practices and lifestyle still similar to the Old Order Amish include:

• Women wear head covering
• Married men have beards in most congregations
• Television and radio are forbidden

Practices that distinguish the Beachy church from the Old Order Amish include:

• Filtered Internet is permitted by most congregations
• Men wear ready-made clothing
• Ownership of personal automobiles.

In 2006, there were 11,487 Beachy members in 207 churches,[25] with the highest representation in Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio.[26] International Beachy churches or mission work can be found in El Salvador, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Ireland, Ukraine, Romania, Kenya, Australia, and Canada. Mission work is sponsored by Amish Mennonite Aid (AMA), Mennonite Interests Committee (MIC), or individual churches.

The Kauffman Amish, also called Sleeping Preacher Churches or Tampico Amish Mennonite Churches, are a Plain, car-driving branch of the Amish Mennonites whose tradition goes back to John D. Kauffman (1847–1913) who preached while being in a state of trance and who was seen as a "sleeping preacher". In 2017 the Kauffman Amish Mennonites had some 2,000 baptized members and lived mainly in Missouri and Arkansas. In contrast to other Amish Mennonites, they have retained their identity over the last hundred years and also largely the Pennsylvania German language and other Amish Mennonite traditions from the late 1800s.[27]

Two Amish Mennonite were organized outside the Amish Mennonite mainstream:

• The Egli Amish
• The Stuckey Amish

Both groups, like the rest of the Amish Mennonites, eventually merged with the Mennonite mainstream.