exploring the Amish and Mennonite denizens of Shipshewana, Indiana

By Tom Wilmer

Published August 27, 2022 at 7:46 PM PDT

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Some Amish regularly utilize bicycles for daily transportation in Shipshewana, Indiana, with E-bikes growing in popularity.

The rural town of Shipshewana in Northeast Indiana is home to both Amish and Mennonites.

Come along and join correspondent Tom Wilmer as he explores Shipshewana where he visits with Andy Rohrer with Blue Gate enterprises, followed by docent Jerry Beasley at Menno-Hof interpretive center for the Amish-Mennonite story.

John is one of the drovers who take visitors on horse drawn carriage rides in Shipshewana, Indiana

Next stop is a visit with Isaiah Miller at the family run, wooden basket company, Teaberry Wood Products, followed by a visit with Loren Yoder at Silver Star Leather company.

Isaiah Miller (left) with sister-in-law Sara and her son Sebastian in Teaberry woodworking shop in Shipshewana, Indiana

The genesis of the Anabaptist movement started in Zurich, Switzerland in 1525. The Anabaptists demanded freedom from state control. The term Anabaptist means “to rebaptize” voluntarily as adults, at a time when the state mandated infant baptisms.

Loren Yoder owner of Silver Star leather Company in Shipshewana, Indiana

Following imprisonments, torture and executions of members of the sect, the Mennonites started migrations to the new world in 1683 spurred by William Penn’s invitation to create a peaceable kingdom in the New World.

John takes visitors on horse drawn Amish carriage rides in Shipshwana, Indiana.

The Amish are the more conservative subset with an avoidance of modernity, specifically avoiding being connected to the grid and reliance on modern transport such as the automobile, while Mennonites utilize autos and modern electric conveniences, and the subset of Hutterites, adhere to living communally.

Enterprising Amish kids tend their roadside stand in Shipshewana, Indiana.

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