Bending Traditions to Avoid Breaking the Rules- the Arthur, Illinois Amish believe. Page Redmond

Transcription

1 Bending Trditions to Avoid Breking the Rules- The Arthur, Illinois Amish Pge Redmond Undergrdute Student Illinois Stte University When the people of the Am ish fith fled religious persecution in Europe nd rrived in Pennsylvni bout 1727, they cme not to strt new life, but to preserve the old wys of living nd frming.1 However, the relity of the outside hs crept into their sheltered culture in the form of lnd shortges nd higher prices for tht lnd which does exist. These pressures, coupled with the ll too constnt wreness of the world outside their culture nd its mny chnges nd dvnces, hve cused wekening in some of the once strictly held trditions. From the outside, it ppers tht moderniztion hs not chnged their wy of life. However, upon closer exmintion, one cn see the exceptions nd chnges which the church hs pproved. These decisions for chnge were not mde lightly, but there ws little else tht could be done. As contrdictory s it my seem, prt of the outside world hd to be llowed to come in if the Amish wy of life ws to remin in existence. 2 THE AMISH IN AMERICA The 'Amish re nmed fter their strict Mennonite leder, Jcob Ammn. Ammn believed mny Mennonites were becoming too liberl nd worldly in their wys. He protested ginst the growing mterilism nd frivolity mong them, nd excommunicted from the church ll who did not gree with his own strict rules of conduct. Those who followed him eventully becme known s "Amish." Due to religious persecution in Europe, the followers of Ammn begn migrtion to Americ settling first in Pennsylvni. 3 However, the Arthur, Illinois Amish believe tht the soil hd to be limed here before crops could be grown, so group of Amish fmilies left to 38

2 find more fertile lnd. 4 They trveled westwrd nd some finlly settled in Illinois in wht is now the southwest corner of Dougls County, northwest corner of Coles County, nd est side of Moultrie County.5 The frm lnd ws fertile, nd they could live their lives in this rurl setting, closer to "God's Country," without fer of corruption from the cities. Conformity to the world ws fered, for the world ws considered sinful nd to conform to it ment one's hert ws spiritully cold. 6 Their lives were built upon their interprettion of the Bible, the fmily, nd the frm. For the Old Order Amish, it is s if time hs been stnding still since they rrived. For the most prt, this holds true tody. However, chnges, which only fifteen yers go were never thought possible, hve tken plce. THE CHANGING CULTURAL LANDSCAPE OF THE FARM Upon rrivl of the Amish in Ill i nois, frm lnd ws selling for $8.10 n cre.1 Not only ws it ffordble to these people who hd sved their money crefully, but there ws plenty to be purchsed. Before 1930, n 80 cre frm ws thought to be the optimum size for frmer who used horse drwn equipment. In 1969, the verge Amish frm ws bout 100 cres nd mny were 150 to 210 cres. 8 More crops hve been dded, especilly soybens. However, with the dded crege, dditionl help is needed. Hyblers nd corn pickers re commonly used, both generted by either gs or diesel engine. To bide by the church bishops' rulings, the mchines re pulled by horses. The ctul opertion (the bling of the hy, for exmple), is powered by the engine often pulled long side the mchine, while the mchine itself is pulled by the horses. Once used in rre cses when the hrvest occurred lte in the seson nd crops hd to be hurried in, it is becoming n incresingly common sight on the Amish culturl lndscpe. Tennt Frming Since frm lnd is growing more scrce nd frms re incresing in size, it stnds to reson tht the continuously growing Amish popultion is finding itself unble to be totlly self-employed. To turn to the outside for employment went ginst mny of the old rules of the church, gin becuse of the fer of sending people to the cities. The Amish lso discourge contct with the government, refusing Socil Security pyments nd benefits.9 Therefore, the resonble solution ws to do wht they knew best; frming s tennt frmers. After ll, their eduction, which normlly ends t the eighth grde, prepres them for life of the soil nd the home. 10 In order for them to be hired by n outside frmer, they hd to be llowed to use the modern equipment. Agin the rules were chnged to llow the Amishmen to use the mchinery, s long s they did not own it themselves. Becuse of this, it lso becme possible to not only hire others to hrvest their crops, but to rent the equipment to use themselves. Agin, the Amishmen's life took nother step forwrd. THE AMISHMEN'S BUSINESS In the pst there hve lwys been few specilized shops owned nd operted by the Amish. Buggy nd hrness shops were t one time the most common ones seen on the culturl lndscpe. With the lrger popultion tody nd the dded business 39

3 to the mrket re, coupled with the need for more employment opportunities, n increse in shops nd specilty services hve ppered. (Fig. 1). Some of the goods nd services offered re woodworking, welding, blcksmithing, crpet weving, butcher nd grocery stores, swmills, bkery, lmp shop, cidr mill, nd of course buggy nd hrness shops. With demnd confined to the Amish for some goods nd services (buggy nd hrness shops, blcksmithing, etc.), it is not necessry to keep lrge supply on hnd or to work quickly. The newest dditions to the business lndscpe, cbinet mking nd woodworking, do need to be modernized in order to compete with the lrger shops in the surrounding cities. The demnd for these goods is very smll in the immedite Amish re of Arthur, Illinois, so mny of these crftsmen sell their products to retilers in Dectur nd other nerby cities. Cse Studies Four such shops in the Arthur re were visited by the uthor; three cbinet shops nd woodworking shop which built pre-fbricted grges nd storge buildings for retiler in Dectur. All three cbinet shops hd bsiclly the sme setup. In smll building in bck of the ILLINOIS AMISH COMMUNITY DIST RI BUTIO N OF HOMES AND BUSINESSES OHmmond \ "Atwood J I =='==1l====I====V=\=111'b:======={l:::fi}====11i======Ic I.';;:;'T uscol 0 0 Q. Arthur ~o? 00 \,!Jsourbon \(. 0 g. ol~elsterville Co I \ ~~ / J I So urce, : R oc komc: ews Figure 1

4 shop is diesel engine. A line shft is run from this so mny mchines cn be run from the sme engine. Also hooked to this is n ir compressor for the ir powered hnd tools which re used. All of this llows the Amishmn to mke better qulity cbinets in frction of the time it would tke to mke them without this new equipment mking him ble to compete in th~ retil mrket. This type of system costs more nd is more trouble thn n electric one, but it hs been llowed by the church bishops s compromise to the " no-electricity" rule. Hydrolic power is lso permitted nd is used in these shops. At the entrnce to Ervin's Cbinet Shop, very new ddition to the culturl lndscpe cn be seen. At his request, the telephone compny instlled py phone in cbinet he hd built nd plced on the property line. Since phones re not llowed in the home, this loction stisfies the church bishops nd is still convenient to use. This is significnt indiction of the intermingling of two different cultures. The wood working shop, Willis Miller s Custom Wll Pnel, ws run on much lrger scle thn the cbinet shops. Severl young men working for Willis Miller were non-am ishmen. Trucks used for delivery nd personl trnsporttion were driven by these men nd even bought by them for the Amishmn. This rrngement mkes it possible for Miller to sty in the good grces with the church bishops. One truck hd mobile phone in it for the owner's use, gin becuse phones re not llowed in the home. Mny of these shops re in buildings djcent to the owner's home, while other businesses, such s Custom Wll Pnel re in nother loction. ' THE MODERNIZATION OF THE HOME An increse in popultion lso mens the need for more homes especilly for those who leve their fmily frms to work elsewhere. Due to the limited trnsporttion of the horse nd buggy, these Amishmen need to live closer to their plces of employment thn do outside people. Often, houses cn be rented from non-amish people who own houses in the Amish re. Since electricity is usully in these homes lredy, the church greed tht it my be utilized, s long s the Amishmn did not hve it instlled himself. This strted chin rection of home improvements. With incresed profits due to more efficient frming, tennt frming, nd businesses, moderniz~tion hs become more redily possible. Gs powered refrigertors nd ir powered mixers re used?ften now. Wter cn lso be pumped In lrge quntities by n ir compressor into lrge tnk to be used s needed, rther thn hving to hnd pump wter s needed, or use the less relible wind powered pumps which re still common sight. The compressors for these functions usully run on gs or diesel fuel or re the sme compressors used in the djcent shops. CONCLUSION In spite of recent chnges, the Amish hve still held to their bsic beliefs. There re still those in the community, however, who re not convinced tht these chnges won't eventully hurt their fith. Dn Miller, n elder Amish resident in the Arthur re, sttes the following in the introduction of his booklet entitled A History of Arthur, Illinois: 41

5 Now dys we hve lot of modern equipment to mke life esier. But there is question in my mind. " Does it?" I think we lose out on our compnionship nd the opportunity to help ech other through this life. I hve lredy mde the sttement. Tht I m frid the world hs trded its lbor for trouble, nd the Bible plinly sttes tht we shll ern our bred by the swet of our brow. 11 It must be hrd for people like Dn Miller to see these chnges fter the mny yers of so few, if ny t ll. Nevertheless, without bending these trditions, the Old Order Amish of Arthur could not fford to exist tody s distinctive group. While technologicl innovtions hve been ccepted, their doctrines nd beliefs hve previled. The Amish remin stedfst in their fith, which is wht mtters most. NOTES 1. Clyde Browning, Amish in Illinois. Printed In the Un ited Sttes, (p. 45) 2. During the twenty one yers in which I hve lived in Dectur, Illinois, I hve come in contct with the Old Order Amish, both on my visits to their community in Arthur, bout twenty miles from Dectur, nd lso on their infrequent trips Into town, mostly to the hospitl where I did volunteer work. I hve lerned gret del from these "gentle" people, nd I m in no wy trying to belittle them for their decision to chnge some of their wys of life for more modern existence which I hve reported here. I respect their lives nd their culture s they do mine. 3. Browning. (p. 7) 4. Dn Miller, History of Arthur, Illinois (Also Records of Deths, Mrriges, nd Minister Ordintions. Plus Ext r Memo Pges for Future Records - Also Reports of Some of the Trying Times of the Good Old Dys). Arthur, IlIi nois, Written by the fther of one of the shop own ers I visited, it is firly well written, chrming, first hnd ccount of mny prts of Amish life. 5. Browning. (p. 13) 6. Cornelius J. Dyck, An Introduction to Mennonite History. Scottdle, P.: Herld Press, (p. 181) 7. Miller. (p. 32) 8. Browning. (p. 47) 9. Clrence W. Hll, "The Revolt of the 'Plin People'," Red ers Digest. Vol. 81 (November 1962), p Justin A. Slet, "The Eduction of the Amish," PTA Mgzine. Vol. 69 (November 1974), p Miller. (p. i) 42