St. Lawrence County’s Swartzentruber Amish

This chapter explores how the Swartzentruber Amish families who began to arrive in New York State in 1974 came because there was affordable land available. Although the availability of cheap farmland was a key factor in their decision to move to New York, many Swartzentruber families, like the Troyer families who moved to the Conewango Valley, were also motivated by the desire to raise their children in a homogeneous community, away from the influence of different, often more progressive Amish groups. The move allowed the Swartzentruber Amish newcomers to distance themselves from the larger Ohio Old Order community and a history of conflict and schism. With large families, the Swartzentruber Amish are among the fastest-growing groups in North America, and the new settlement expanded quickly.