Amish and Mennonite History Amish Country

The Amish and Mennonite groups emerged from the Anabaptist movement during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation in Central and Western Europe. Among the many reforms was a strengthening of the tie between church and state, and granting the church far-reaching authority over religious doctrine. By 1525, the Anabaptist movement was established in resistance to the church-mandated practice of infant baptism. The Anabaptists supported baptism of believing adults (or re-baptism), which the church deemed illegal and subject to severe punishment, including execution.

To escape persecution, the Dutch Anabaptist leader and former Catholic priest Menno Simons gathered his followers and fled to Switzerland, where the Mennonite group was established. By the end of the 17th century, a group led by Jakob Amman split from the Swiss Mennonite group and was named Amish after its leader.

Attracted by the promise of religious freedom, the Amish began migrating to Pennsylvania in the early 1700s. Elkhart and LaGrange counties’ Amish residents, who first settled in this area near Middlebury in 1841, are descendants of the Swiss Amish from Pennsylvania. Today, the Amish live in Central America, Canada and 22 states (nearly 80 percent live in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana).

For more information visit www.mennohof.org