Amish History, Geneology Records



Unser Leit:  The Story of The Amish

 In his newly released, two-volume encyclopedic set, "Unser Leit:  The Story of the Amish",  author Leroy Beachy has compiled and chronicles, in great detail, real life experiences of anabaptist followers and Amish history from the beginning of the 1600's, through migration to America, continuing to the present.  Unser Leit means "Our People".  Beachy's 22-year research has taken him to Europe where he has documented Amish movement from Switzerland in the 1670's through France and Germany, then to Eastern Pennyslvania in the early 1700's, then Westward to Holmes County, Ohio in 1809. Complete with footnotes, Unser Leit definitively reveals how the Amish were new converts from the Reformed Church, a detail that may challenge currently understood Amish history.  Mr. Beachy's findings indicate that the founder of the people who became known as the Amish was actually Ulrich Muller.

Impressive, are the nearly 300 hand-drawn illustrations by the author himself.

Sure to interest those researching geneology records, Unser Leit includes a comprehensive listing of 1800's Amish family names of those who immigrated to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario, Canada. The two volumes cover many human interest details, including ordination of preachers by lot, interaction with American Indians and life in the new wilderness.


The Millersburg, Ohio Barn Inn Bed and Breakfast, whose owners are direct descendents of these very Amish, have available for purchase, the two-volume set.  Additionally, they have a set available to their guest for research.  Another sourse for the purchase of Unser Leit is Mennonite Family History.  If visiting Berlin, Ohio, Unser Leit may be purchased at the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center.

Submitted by Loretta Coblentz, The Barn Inn Bed and Breakfast
May 1, 2011