There are approximately 3500 Amish in the Arthur area. An average family consists of six children. When the young people are married they are often given a parcel of land by one of the fathers from which they are to make their living. An average Amish farm consists of approximately 80 acres. Their main crops being wheat, oats, clover, and corn. Until a few years ago, farming was their only way of life. Due to the fact that ground is no longer plentiful, some of them are leaving farming for other ways of life such as woodworking, canning, watch repair, and several are now employed at various manufacturing jobs in the Arthur area.
Their homes are large with several rooms opening into one large room where they hold church. The houses are furnished very simply with benches on which the families sit to eat their meals. The floors are bare and the windows are covered with plain colored cloth. The Amish women are good cooks, but only cook plain foods raised on their farms, such as pork, beef, chicken, turkey, and garden vegetables.
The Amish dress is simple with the men wearing dark colored high vests over home-made shirts, collarless coats fastened with hooks and eyes. They have their hair cut in a “Dutch Bob.” Their men wear beards, but the young Amish shave until they are married. The Amish women dress simply with plain ankle length dresses, black stockings and flat shoes. In the cold months, they wear black wool shawls. Their heads have a covering or white prayer cap which is worn inside the home or during church services, and wear a black bonnet when outside. The girls dress like their mothers with the exception of the prayer caps which they do not wear until they have joined church.