A Peculiar People: Iowa's Old Order Amish

PREFACE

MOVING DAY. Courtesy of the Des Moines Register and Tribune. The history of the Amish has been a part of the story of Iowa since the early 1840s. The first Amish families moved into Lee County even before the days of Iowa’s statehood. Through the years they have expanded in number and settlements and have suffered several schisms, but they have always retained the distinctive qualities that long ago earned for them the name, the “Plain People.” With this longstanding settlement in Iowa, it is surprising that so little has been written about the Amish who live in this state. Fortunately, many scholarly studies have been published on Amish populations in Pennsylvania , Ohio, and Indiana; but while some of these findings can be generalized to the entire national Amish population, others cannot. Perhaps even more important, concentration on these eastern areas excludes regional variations as well as the recognition of important mobility trends that are more obvious in the Midwest.    Following a long-time interest in South Dakota’s Hutterites, we began to search for written materials on Iowa’s Plain People. We were amazed to discover that little was available; if we desired to pursue the topic, there apxx peared to be only one alternative—to collect the data ourselves. In April 1970 we made our first trip to Kalona to visit the Old Order Amish community there. In the years that followed we returned to Kalona many times as well as traveling on numerous occasions to the settlements in Buchanan County and Milton; later we also visited the Beachy Amish in Leon. In each community we were privileged to meet Amish and non-Amish people who gave generously of their time and energy to assist us with our research.    Because of the nature of our study and the predominance of Old Order among the state’s Amish population, we have focused the book primarily on the Old Order group. However, to provide comparisons between the various groups of Plain People who reside in Iowa and other parts of the Middle West, we have included a chapter on the Beachy Amish and minimal comments on other Mennonite groups. The “newness” of the Milton community will be of special interest to students of the American utopian movement. Rarely in historical study is it possible to observe the beginning of such a settlement. We were indeed fortunate to start our study during the initial years xxi PREFACE xxii PREFACE of the Milton group. Since 1970 we have followed its development, meeting many of the people moving into the area from surrounding states, and believe that it provides a special dimension to this study.    Our project was a very special one from the beginning. We were continually impressed by the faith and inner peace of the Amish people as well as their ability to insulate themselves against the outside world. As we visited more families and observed such Amish institutions as their parochial schools, our initial impressions developed into a deep abiding sense of appreciation and profound respect for these people. We feel tremendously fortunate today to count as our friends many Old Order Amish families. We also rediscovered during our many trips around the state that Iowans are friendly, generous people. In every community the townspeople responded willingly with their time to talk with us about their Amish neighbors, particularly in the community of Milton. We came away from these areas with an increased appreciation of the people of Iowa, both Amish and non-Amish.    As the bibliography indicates, we have many people to thank for their time, interest, and enthusiasm in our project. It is not possible to single out everyone, but several individuals must be mentioned. James Frier, Washington County extension director, arranged for our first contacts with Kalona townspeople . We will always be grateful to the late Marie Jackson of Kalona who, deciding that our project sounded worthy, arranged for many of our initial visits with Amish families. Marie was a lifelong resident of Kalona, known and respected by the Amish and non-Amish alike, and her approval of our work was invaluable. In Oelwein Mrs. Mary Leacock assisted us in meeting many people in the community who in turn were helpful in making contacts with Amish families. In the Milton area Maxine and Maynard Manske were particularly helpful in assisting with our Amish contacts and revealing many insights into the Old Order Amish life...