Tobias of the Amish: A True Story of Tangled Strands in Faith, Family, and Community

by Ervin R. Stutzman

Book Overview

Tobias of the Amish presents an intimate look at the life of Tobias J. Stutzman, an ambitious Amish entrepreneur. From installing electric lights in his woodworking shop to questioning the church's refusal of cars, Tobe continually pushes the boundaries of his Amish faith community. But as Tobe's ideas for inventions come up against delays, his growing debt to fellow church members raises the stakes. Can the Amish church support Tobe's grandiose...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0836191706
• ISBN13: 9780836191707
• Release Date: July 2001
• Publisher: Herald Press (VA)
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Tobais of the Amish

My parents were both raised Amish, I was not. In recent years I've become interested in the Amish. Why do they do things... I've read several other books about how the Amish Church came into being and its evolution. This book does not address those types of things. In reading about Tobias' life there are allot of little things that I've never thought about that were filled in for me. For example, in one part of the book the author talks about how the Amish do not sing their hymns in parts because that is thought to be prideful. I have been to Amish gatherings before (mostly funerals for relatives) and I have noticed that they do not sing in parts but I never would have thought that they thought singing in parts was prideful. The book seems to be an honest straight forward tale of Tobais' life. The book is written by his sone who was three when he lost his father. If you're interested, as I am, in learning the reasons why the Amish do the things that they do you will find this book helpful.

what family is all about!

wasn't too sure what I might find in this book.Was ever so pleased to have selected an outstanding story. Tobias reminded me of someone I knew, my Dad. Smart as a whip but, always a day late and a dollar short. I was a depression kid and I remember so many families living from one meal to another, one bad break to another, and so on. Tobias was so much "the man of his era". Thanks to the author for an heart touching book. d.c. haas

Musings on "Tobias of the Amish"

Tobias of the Amish We are linked to our parents in ways we hardly recognize. For the child who grows up under a fractured roof there will always be something unfathomable about the parent who dies too young. It is important to fill in the gaps towards understanding, take the measure of that faded figure in the background.  Ervin R. Stutzman, Moderator of Mennonite Church USA, is that child. In a decade-long research and writing project, he went on an exceptional journey to find his father, Tobias Stutzman, who at age 37 was killed in a car accident. Ervin was only a toddler and has no memories of his father. In the years after Tobe's death, Ervin's mother Emma spoke little of him, nor did others in the Amish community of which he had been a part. It was as if a veil of silence had been drawn, secrets tucked away. Years later Ervin determined to dive into the wreck and retrieve the cargo of the past. Tobias Stutzman came to maturity in an agriculture community but knew early on that he did not get his juice from farming. He dreamed of his own woodworking business. In his first job he had permission to use his employer's shop for his own woodworking projects. He had what one might call an avarice for doing, seeing in every possibility an opportunity that might not come his way again. He made things out of wood, and later, metal: tables, cabinets, custom-built buggies, wooden wagon boxes, address lamps, chicken catchers, feed scoops, tomato racks, self-watering flower pots and glove display racks. He even marketed sewing machines. "If it is made of wood, we can do it!" said a sign outside his shop during the earlier years. A recurrent theme is borrowed money.  The Stutzmans got into debt even as a newly married couple. Tobe performed on a grand scale; he appears not to have foreseen or planned for major decisions. Things were entered but not balanced. Tobe was perhaps unpracticed in an awareness of his own needs. Because the contours of his heart were warm and generous, he was easily distracted by the claims of others. One is struck by his raw capability as he struggled to keep work and family afloat. Yet his story includes no turning from bad habits. Instead he carries on blindly, creating the same painful situation - a trail of debt - over and again. Had he seen his besetting sin with clarity, he might have asked his community to make him accountable much earlier than they later did, on their own terms. What went amiss with Tobe's strivings?  Sociologists remind us that behaviors in families are usually passed along and can become the emotional legacy of generations. Tobias' parents, John and Anna, kept their counsel about their financial woes and marital disappointments. John was rather given to abrupt announcements of upheaval ("We're moving!) without much explanation. He did not come to Tobe and Emma's wedding; it is not clear what the falling-out was about. Possibly Tobe carried this oblique and flawed communication - the constipated silence,