Getting My Facts Right by Jennifer Beckstrand

As a writer, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to get my facts right when it comes to the Amish culture. On my last trip to Wisconsin Amish country, I paid special attention to some of the differences among Amish communities. In one community the women tie their kapp strings, in another, they leave their kapp strings hanging. In the more conservative communities, the dresses are black or darker colors with dark purples, blues, and maroons preferred. In other communities you see pink, yellow, royal blue, and mint green dresses. I met one young mother who had dressed her baby boy in a beautiful peach-colored shirt with black trousers and suspenders.

The use of pins has always fascinated me. Many Amish women close the fronts of their dresses with straight pins instead of buttons. Buttons are seen as proud and too fancy in some communities, although many of the men’s shirts have simple buttons. I always wonder how often a housewife accidentally scratches herself on one of the pins in her dress. This trip, I noticed an Amish woman in Bonduel who had snaps down the front of her dress instead of straight pins. Another woman at the fabric store used safety pins. That seems much safer—especially for someone like me who would more likely than not scratch herself every day.

All Amish communities have a set of rules—the Ordnung—that they live by, but the rules vary from district to district, and each Amish community does things slightly different from the next. For example, some communities allow their members to own chainsaws. Others only allow members to borrow chainsaws. Others forbid the use of chainsaws altogether.

Sometimes people in a community won’t like the way the bishop runs things or the way the Ordnung is interpreted, and they move to another area. Some are searching for a more lenient bishop. Others are seeking a stricter set of rules.

For a writer, this diversity is both good and bad. With all the different rules, I’m never sure if I’ve gotten something exactly right, but I’m comforted that I can always make up my own community with its own set of rules and probably be okay.

---

Jennifer Beckstrand is the award-winning author of The Matchmakers of Huckleberry Hill Amish romance series. After growing up with a steady diet of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, she went slightly crazy and got a degree in mathematics, which came in handy when one of her six children needed help with homework. After her fourth daughter was born, she started writing. By juggling diaper changes, soccer games, music lessons, laundry, and two more children, she finished her first manuscript in just under fourteen years. Jennifer has always been drawn to the strong faith and the enduring family ties of the Plain people and loves writing about the antics of Anna and Felty Helmuth. Jennifer and her husband have been married for thirty years, and she has four daughters, two sons, and three adorable grandsons, whom she spoils rotten.