The Byler Amish, also called Alt Gemee (Old Church), are a small conservative subgroup of the

Amish The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches ...

. They are known for the yellow color of their buggies, which earned them the nickname "yellow-toppers" and for wearing only one suspender. They are the oldest Old Order Amish affiliation that separated for doctrinal and not for geographical reasons.

History

Amish settled in the

Mifflin County Mifflin County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 46,143. Its county seat is Lewistown. The county was created on September 19, 1789, from parts of Cumberland County and Northumberlan ...

region of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

as early as 1791, coming from

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...

. In the 1840s there were three Amish congregations in the region. In 1849 Samuel B. King, a conservative bishop who warned against adopting the use of rubber tires on buggies and who was also accused of giving sermons that were too long, was "silenced", that is he was removed from his ministerial duties. One of the three districts, the "lower" district sided with King and split from the other two districts. This split was actually the culmination of mounting tensions over several issues and led to more conservatism in this branch. In 1881 the

Nebraska Amish The Nebraska Amish, also called Old Schoolers, are a relatively small affiliation of the Amish. They are the most conservative subgroup of Amish, indicated not only by their use of technology but also by their particular style of dress. They emer ...

, the most conservative group of Old Order Amish, split from the Byler Amish, led by Bishop Yost H. Yoder.

Practice and belief

Byler Amish men wear only one suspender, like the

Renno Amish The Renno Amish, also called Beachy Amish or "black toppers" are a subgroup of Amish that was formed in 1863 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. They are the moderately conservative Old Order Amish group in Kishacoquillas Valley The Kishacoquill ...

, but shirts in different colors. Women wear brown bonnets. The use of tractors is allowed for belt power, but not for field work. In their homes, screens on doors and half-length curtains are allowed, while carpets are not.

Members and congregations

In 1956 the Byler Amish had one church district with 40 members. In his 1981 book ''Plain Buggies'' Stephen Scott writes that the Byler Amish have "only one district around Belleville" and "about 90 members". As of 2000, the Byler had three churches in

and are also affiliated with districts near

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...

. As of 2011, the Byler Amish had 5 church districts.Kraybill, Donald B., Karen M. Johnson-Weiner, and Steven M. Nolt, eds. ''The Amish'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013), page 139.

Notes

References

John A. Hostetler John A. Hostetler (October 29, 1918 – August 8, 2001) was an American author, educator, and scholar of Amish and Hutterite societies. Some of his works are still in print. Life John Andrew Hostetler was born to an Old Order Amish family in the ...

: ''Amish Society'' (4th ed.), Baltimore, MD 1993. * Steven M. Nolt: ''A History of the Amish'', Intercourse: Good Books, 2016. {{Amish Old Order Amish Anabaptism in Pennsylvania