Amish and Mennonites.

Madison County is home to a large Amish and Mennonite community.  I taught high school in this area, Plain City, with Amish/Mennonite students in my class.  These were the Beachy Amish Mennonites and the girls in my class wore bonnets.  The girls had a nickname for their bonnets.  They called them “Sin Sifters”.  I attended a wedding of one of my students.  It was held at a church in Plain City.  The men sat on one side of the chapel and the women on the other.  I was told that this is the norm.

Mennonites were first called the Swiss Brethren.  The first Mennonite Bishop in North America was my 9th Great-Grandfather, Hans Herr.  He arrived with William Penn to colonize a portion of what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  He arrive with his congregation in 1710.  

The Amish and Mennonites are known for leading simple lives, avoiding much modern-technology. Many are farmers, or work in construction trades.  Schooling in some communities ends after the 8th grade. Many of its members speak a form of German called Pennsylvania Dutch. Their ancestors came form German speaking countries, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. These groups religious beliefs are anabaptist. They do not practice infant baptism. They believe that a person is only baptized when they confess their faith in Christ and ask to be baptized.

In family life, to reduce problems with too many cousin marriages, the Amish and Mennonites often send male youth to other communities in the U.S. and Canada to date and marry and to avoid genetic drift and the inherited disease Ellis-van Creveld which causes polydactyly (extra fingers or toes).  

In Ohio, Amish are often seen in surrounding communities, selling produce or doing construction related labor. Although Amish/Mennonite Chapels exist, Amish farm houses are sometimes used to worship.