Swartzendruber Amish

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The Swartzendruber Amish are an Old Order Amish sect that formed as the result of a division that occurred among the Holmes County, Ohio, Amish 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 five districts of Swartzendruber in Holmes County and Wayne County. They are noted for their use of reflective tape in place of bright triangular slow moving signs for road travel, which they regard as too worldly. Like some other Old Order groups, they avoid the use of electricity and indoor plumbing. Swartzendruber 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.

Swartzendruber is a Mennonite/Amish family name, which is of Swiss origin, coming from the Trub river valley, located approximately midway between Bern and Lucerne. It has been thought to mean "seller of black grapes".^[1] Other English spellings of the name include Swartzentruber, Schwartzendruber, Schwarzentruber, and Schwarztrauber.

[edit] Reference

^ Swartzentruber, Elmer G and N. van der Zijpp. "Swartzendruber (Swartzentruber, Swartzendrover Swartzendruver, Schwartzentruber, Schwartzendruber, Schwarzentruber, Schwarzentruver, Schwarztrauber, Schwarzentraub)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1959. Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 January 2007 [1]