In-depth Interview About The Amish Heritage

In-depth Interview About The Amish Heritage

On July 13th, The Outcast had a book launch at my mother’s store, Miller’s Amish Country Store, in Greenbrier, Tennessee.

My agent, Wes Yoder, attended and invited his cousin along, whose name is Rachel Yoder Shetterfly. I liked Rachel immediately. She was so kind and warm, even though it was about a hundred degrees beneath the pavilion where I was signing books. Rachel lives in Pennsylvania, but we have since kept in touch through Facebook. Recently, I asked if she’d be willing to share about her Plain background. Rachel agreed, and I know you will enjoy learning about her unique story as much as I did!

By Rachel Yoder Shetterfly

My parents were born and raised in the Amish church in Mifflin County, PA–an area known as Big Valley, Kishacoquillas Valley, or the proper name, Belleville. There are several Amish groups there as indicated by the color of their buggy: White Toppers, Yellow Toppers, and Gray Toppers.

The white and brown buggies are from the Nebraska Amish group from which my paternal grandfather originates. He (Abraham Yoder, Senior) migrated to Nebraska as a small boy with his parents. They lived there until the Dust Bowl hit the Midwest. As a young man, my grandfather loved to travel and attended the World Fair in New York in 1900. After this trip, he and two of his friends visited Big Valley where Dawdy stayed to marry his sweetheart, and the two friends returned to Nebraska.

The yellow topped buggy is the Byler church or Beanies, as they are also known because of their tradition of serving bean soup and moon pies for their church meal. This meal is still a favorite in our family. My maternal grandparents hail from this church.

In the early ’50s various church groups from the Mennonite and Brethren In Christ denominations held tent revivals in Big Valley. It was during this time that my parents (who were not yet married) began to have a hunger for a deeper spiritual walk with Christ than they were learning about in the Amish church. The Amish bishops began to forbid their people to attend these meetings. It did not keep my father from reading his Bible, and one day while reading, he realized his need for Jesus to be his Savior and prayed for forgiveness of the sins of his past.

I have thrived on stories about my heritage. My father is the youngest of thirteen, and I am the youngest of my family having been born eleven years after my last sibling, so by the time my mother gave birth to me, two of my grandparents had already passed, and a third would die before my first birthday. My remaining grandfather lived until Christmas Day of 2000, but I wouldn’t say we were close as I didn’t grow up in Big Valley and didn’t visit but a few times a year. I love hearing how my Grandma Yoder (maternal) could bake bread, pies, whoopie pies, cookies, and cook amazing food. I have never heard many stories of how she may have loved on her family other than to fill their bellies with food! My mother caught this trait, and she was never happy unless we were eating something while with her. My father’s parents were particularly different for most families in that time period. Dawdy and Mommie had a deep interest in spiritual things and were careful to instill in their children the sweet kindness which comes from a life grounded in God.

I think my favorite story is about Mommie. She was caring for her grandchildren, as their mother, my Aunt Rachel (for whom I am named), was killed in a horse and buggy accident. Aunt Rachel had a daughter Rachel, who had been hit by a car and had lost part of her leg. Mommie asked the doctor for the severed limb, took it home, bathed it, dried it, put cotton balls between the toes, covered it and gently laid it in a box. The box was then buried beside Rachel’s mother. Mommie said it is proper to give dignity to every part of the body. I admire the gracious spirit of love which exudes from this act of kindness.

Some of my favorite “things” about my heritage: simplicity, the agrarian culture, the amazing foods cooked in lard, baked with butter, and all things artery clogging! Grandpa had a pretzel tin on his heater in the kitchen, and that was free food for us. Our parents weren’t allowed to keep us from the pretzels, and it was a sad day if the tin was empty!

My favorite foods from my heritage include my Aunt Arlene’s Egg Custard Pie and a meal of Bean Soup and Moon Pies. Our bean soup is not ham and bean soup, and our moon pies are not that marshmallow, graham cracker covered in chocolate goodness of southern fame. No, our bean soup is made from northern bean, noodles, butter, and milk. Moon pies are like a fry pie, but stuffed with snitz and baked in pie dough. My Aunt Arlene gave me a very special gift when she baked two pies just for me about a month before she died instantly of a heart attack.

I appreciate the emphasis on godly living which has been passed down to us. The idea of living at peace with our fellowman is something I have seen lived out in practical ways as well. We love to sing when we’re together – Gott ist die Liebe, Praise to God, Immortal Praise, and other hymns both in English and German.

While I love visiting the home area in Belleville, I’m very thankful to have not been raised there. There is certainly nothing inherently wrong about living there! It’s simply a small place and generally speaking, everyone knows what their neighbor beside them and ten miles up the road is doing! I’m glad I wasn’t raised living a plain Amish lifestyle without cars or electricity. I appreciate the modern conveniences we are afforded; although, continuing to live a simple lifestyle is one we attempt to do.

Thank you so much, Rachel, for visiting with us today! If you have a Plain heritage and are interested in sharing your story here, please contact me through the contact tab on my website. I’d love to hear from you!