Wagler Wisdom

We received a free copy of the “Botschaft” , this past week . A paper we feel was started by Uncle Ezra Wagler , in the mid 1970″s .A newsweekly for the Amish , by the Amish , with only Amish committee approved Ads and news inside . It was started in 1975 to combat the “English slant” that was supposedly in the Amish “Budget” a weekly newspaper that has been around well over a hundred years.

Now , why would we receive a pitch to send in $40 a year to a conservative , a very strict Amish view of a nail-bitingly hard Life we gladly left many years ago ? (36 years , to be exact). We suspect we got on an Amish mailing list , because we do receive “The plain Interest ” , a monthly publication.

The Botschaft is today printed by a very enterprising Mid 50ish Amishman in Millersburg Pa, named Elam Lapp . This man By himself and a staff of 7 Prints and sends out almost all the exclusively Amish Weekly and Monthly magazines now available. (Except for the Pathway Publisher”s from Canada).

A committee of 5 (or is it 7 ?) strict Amish Deacons , mostly from the upper Midwest currently oversee all allowed content  and policies of the Botschaff weekly. They are all very conservative and shadowy indeed. It is strictly Amish oriented in every way , and conservative Amish at that .

After googling “The Botschaft” , and studying the available information that was given  on it , I was a bit nonplussed to note that the Good Pa. people are now giving credit  to their own kinfolk and a fellow Pennsylvanian Amishman, for starting this particular weekly news-in -suspenders tome. A kind and gentle Amish man by the name of Andy Kinsinger of Gordonville Pa. is mentioned in several places as the impetus to the start and the formation of this homely paper . He had a little print shop in Gordonville Pa. and for many years printed off pamphlets and small books , and funeral cards on a little press there. I remember him visiting our place in Canada as a boy , though he has been long dead now . I believe he was on the committee that was  formed to turn out the paper , originally .His technical skills and contacts in the printing world of that time helped too .

Uncle Ezra Wagler tended to be rather Brusque and abrupt , and “right to the point”  in manner , and must have squared off with someone or other , to be now somewhat forgotten by the Pa. end of it .

The Amish Deacon board that oversees the “Botschaft ” hasn’t forgotten Ezra Wagler though , as they recently installed one of his grandchildren as a fellow board member . (He happens to be a deacon in a strict Mid-western Amish group)

Now we also realize that the good Pa. folks , both plain and English , tend to think that the world centers on them in many ways . (About like the Washington DC politicians think the Country exists to feed them , we suppose .)

And now we turn our attention to my uncle Ezra Wagler , (B. 1916-D.1983 ) , who resided in Bowling Green Mo. for many years , as I believe he was the main driving force that got this unlikely Amish only Botschaft  newspaper up and going  in 1975.

Uncle Ezra Wagler was a son of Joesph K. Wagler ,(My Dad”s Dad) . Ezra  was also possibly the most strident , ferociously strict Amishmen I have ever known , or met in my life so far. He was not a writer like my Dad is , was not a speaker of any note at all . (Though he was an Amish Deacon). But he was a man of tremendous Willpower once he set his mind . Once he got a hold on an Idea he just wouldn”t let go , no matter what. (Perhaps a Wagler thing ?)

He figuratively and literally seemed to despise any and all Passenger cars , as a worldly connivance .Or perhaps it was the one driving the car that irked him. The words “Car”  or “automobile” , seemed far too worldly to him , so he would refer to them only as ‘the machine’ .

If you had or drove a car and were “English ” , he tolerated that . If you drove a car and had any Amish background , no matter how far back , you were same as toast to him , and he did not mind showing disapproval on that  .

He had long collar-length curly hair , and was not even a “Swartzentruber” amish man , just the next thing to it . I’ve never heard of another regular Amishman that was allowed to keep hair that long , maybe no one dared approach him on it . As far as I know there is only one Photo that exists somewhere Of Uncle Ezra .

A Passenger train was speeding From Chicago to St Louis (In the 1960″s) . One set of wheels on one car somehow derailed and clattered along ,until the train somehow stopped safely , averting a major wreck. A newspaper picture of a group of relieved passengers on the grade watching  as the still smoking assembly is examined by the trainmen . At the very forefront is Uncle Ezra , looking Very soberly on . I remember Dad had a copy of that photo , and admired it .

Anyway , in the late 1960′s Uncle Ezra got a notion (As an Amishman Might say ) , that his German Martin Luther Bible was not German enough . He discovered somehow that through the years ,words in the German Language Bible had been updated ,a few small changes made . (Errors updated ,perhaps ?) .He didn’t like that a bit , and determined to reprint a very old version of the Martin Luther Bible .Worldliness of any form must be addressed  for sure . He came up to Canada and tried to convince Pathway Publishers , (The Aylmer Amish Printing house) to take on that project . They kindly declined , seems like for several reasons .

He never gave up the idea, just doggedly kept on working on something he strongly believed in . Eventually he got a printing of like 5000 of his special old-time German Bibles printed somehow. I once saw one of them , a very primitive looking transcript indeed. They were of course reserved for sale, for Amish only .

Next, he turned his attention to the “worldly” Sugar-creek Budget weekly, especially irking to him were the non-Amish scribes , or writers. (Car drivers all).Also the showy  ads that showed so much pleasure taking place that could and should be avoided , to his way of thinking.

For several years Uncle Ezra toiled to raise interest in an Amish -Only weekly to replace the Sugarcreek Budget”s influence .(National Edition) among the “True Amish’.

.  In 1973 Auntie Rosa died in a tragic night accident while boarding a Greyhound bus in Ohio ,with Uncle Ezra . Dressed completely in  dark clothes, Aunt Rosa  died instantly when struck by a car …

The Botschaft was finally published in mid 1975 . A very plain appearing small paper , that only a very strict Amishman could appreciate much . About 50 or so scribes rambled on in the rather lengthy letters . Very little editing was done to them , then or now , so they tended to be full of who visited who .Only ads approved by the Amish Deacon committee , were available . Writers were encouraged to stick to Amish news only , not to speculate about Worldly things . No editorials or special articles needed either.

The Sugarcreek Budget Company in Ohio actually Printed  out the Botschaft  and sent it off for the first year , after which it was moved to Pa where it was put together and sent out by a man named Jim Weaver for almost 3 decades . Weaver did as good a job as he could under the circumstances .Working with or for a Strict Amish Deacon committee must have been a tough job . The  Deacon Committee , mostly from the Midwest , preferred that a car owner like him not do any editing , just publish it as it was sent in by the true hearted amish writers. That it was a dull looking and reading Weekly news paper was beside the point .

To a strict amishman , What is backwards and unexciting is often the most preferred , above all . Any hint of Worldliness is to be abhorred at all cost . The clientele or subscribers to the Botschaft in the first 25 years was definitely from the strictest segment of the Amish Communities .

There is a good probability that the Botschaft news was subsidized for quite a number of years , and if so , it would have to had been from the richer Lancaster Co. Pa. Amish Community. The Mid-West Amish , especially of the Stricter groups , have always been a Hard-scrabble lot , simply because it is hard to make a living  , with the poorer land out there, and the heavy restrictions they put on themselves .

About the year 2005 , a number of things came to a head for the Amish Deacon board that oversaw the printing of the paper. Perhaps the Richer Amish , subsidizing it ,had a hard time understanding why the paper still made no profit . After all it had almost 10.000 paid subscribers by then .

Jim Weaver , The Car driving Publisher who had printed out and mailed out the papers faithfully for almost 30 years  was replaced by an Amish entrepreneur ,named Elam Lapp. How this all came about we do not know , but it was a stroke of Genius for the beleaguered Deacons . The new publisher not only drove a horse & buggy , and wore a felt hat , he was also a well respected and experienced  Amish publisher . It was also good that he was not a writer or much of an editor , just a good “Manager”‘ , which Amish prize above all else .

The Deacon board approached Lapp with an offer a shrewd businessman like him could not refuse , and he did not . In exchange for publishing the weekly Amish Botschaft , Lapp , the new publisher could have a free hand with the financial side , keeping any and all future profits, while the board would make all policy as to contents , and wanted only enough money from the Botschaft paper proceeds to pay for the tickets to travel to their occasional meetings . Any profit would be the Publishers” from then on.

One has to wonder where Legal ownership of this Amish weekly newspaper  resides by now . When something makes a good bit of profit as the Botschaft is now, that question always arises at some point.

The new publisher quickly spruced up the front page , tending to put more interesting letters up front , enlarging & enhancing the title heading , and adding an index of all letters . He also raised the price from $32 a year to $40  and pushing the now more attractive paper”s numbers to about 16000 paid subscribers by 2010.

Good for him . People , even a stricter Amishman , will pay more for a paper that does not resemble a funeral program.

It would appear now that the strident Botschaft  Amish weekly is now poised to soon challenge the Dominance of the Sugarcreek Budget (National edition ), in the mailboxes of the numerous Amish Readers in North America . It is hard to believe , after watching this narrow -minded idea muddle along as it did , for so many years , that it has that many paying subscribers .

We hope the Budget continues to prosper , and Publish nationally, as it does contribute a lot to an exchange of ideas , and furnishes a platform for dialog , at the Anabaptist  beliefs level .

And now , back to Uncle Ezra Wagler , and his ideas of fighting worldliness aggressively at every opportunity.

His particular version of Amish was quite a bit stricter , then the one in which we were raised , up there in cold Canada. Also , it was stricter then how and where he was raised Amish , too (In southern Indiana). And so it was , that he showed in action , and demeanor  , if not always in words , that he felt we were not combating “worldliness ” in a hearty enough manner . Uncle Ezra seemed to get even Stricter as time went by .

Today ,it is a bit hazy in my mind exactly what can make one Amish community “Higher” or “‘Lower” in the worldliness scale . The equipment on the  buggies and the types of harnesses on the horses can have a lot to do with it . Also the size of the men’s hat brims , and the colors of the women”s dresses too. Even elastic on clothes can be a no-no , or a way to go ‘lower’. Some of them take this really serious , often completely ignoring slightly different Amish Men as full of “Holhmut”. (Pride).

Only once were we ourselves the target of Uncle Ezra”s ire against “worldliness” , at least his version of it . In about 1980 while we were living in Davviss Co. Ind. He was visiting there at a Relative”s house , when we made the rather ill-fated decision to drop in to say hello to him . And , yes , we were driving a car , and no, it did not go well at all . We didn”t get past the greeting of our not often seen uncle . A few minutes of somewhat colorful admonitions followed , the conversation flowing all one way . There really is no answer to Strictness of that type .

On My father’s side I was blessed with a number of Stricter Amish Uncles and cousins, Though almost all except Uncle Ezra were usually somewhat Civil about it . I did not hold it against him then or now , as one has to keep in mind that it is almost always the objects they despise , and not the persons. At least we hope so .

How could someone who was born and raised in a mainstream Amish Community ,like Davvis Co. Indiana , get on a lifelong Ever-stricter spiral ?

I somewhat kept that question in the background over the next number of years , but did resolve to get some answers to that question.

Over a period of time , some answers did evolve , to explain the super-strictness in my uncle” s life ,and those around him .

Over the last number of years I have noted that Strictness , and unreasoning  intolerance for other”s ways or ideas , almost always denote hidden evils , in one”s life . We would propose that this is found across the entire spectrum of Amish & Mennonite life . (And further then that).

If one sees unreasoning strictness , and claimed Biblical reasons for it , watch out . Putting women in second or third class positions would go right in there with that . Someone is usually hiding Evil , with a big E.

That would be for the high 90 +% of  people. And that Brings us to My Uncle Ezra . He has been dead now for almost 3 decades , And I’ve never heard even a snippet , that he was putting anyone on , or pretending to be something he was not . Being at peace with his fellow man was elusive , though.

Here appears to have been a man who was not only very hard on others , and their lifestyles , but  even harder on himself , a true believer in harshness as being “the way”, one might say . And with a personal mission of combating Worldliness. And quite effectively ,too , at least in his own eyes.

And so ,our quest slowly came about for some answers . An inverted question here ,or there , from a generation that is quickly dying off of old age now. Relatives almost never divulge ancient  , (50 + yr) information , or if so , very hesitantly . And checking of family records helped too . One of the sources we tapped was a person who still carried somewhat of a grudge against Ezra for sundry youthful indiscretions . In the late 1930′s . Wow , the staying power of offense is about unfathomable ,indeed .

We’ll share a few , though not all , the conclusions we have come out with .

In his “Rumspringa ” years , in the mid to late 1930″s , Uncle Ezra perhaps got somewhat carried away . Somewhat rowdy , in fact . He seems to not have stayed at home until the proper age , of that time . It did not help that his father was the  Strict Joseph K Wagler , the only Amish Deacon that that area of Amish had ordained in the prior 60 years .

There were ups and downs to that Father-son relationship , but it did not seem to go that well , as the young Ezra was often somewhat devious , even as he got married and “settled down ” in the fall of 1939 ,winter 1940.

And so it was that on the hot summer day in 1940 , when Joseph K Wagler , collapsed and died suddenly , His second son Ezra was still so estranged from his father , that he had been , and still was then , Disinherited.

That the Estate of J K wagler was rather modest had nothing to do with the thing . To an Amishman , to be disinherited is absolutely the worst thing that can happen to him on this earth . To be publicly beheaded on the public square might  be preferable to that kind of disgrace. Even to be excommunicated from his church is less wrenching in effect on an amish man .

If it , the disinheriting of this son , was legally done ,and recorded , we do not know , perhaps it was not . That the surviving spouse could have altered that later , is not even in the equation. The father had Disinherited his son , and then unfortunately , had suddenly died . So be it ,so it will stay.

That was it , forever is forever , nothing can change that shame ,in an amish man”s life outlook .

Our conjuncture now may be , that here , in 1940 , was a young father with his own  now dead father”s admonition still  ringing in his ears ..”Du Buse  , Du Buse”" .. (Repent you , Repent You). And he went at it with a vengeance , for the next 43 years  , doing his own version of Repenting , as in living strictly. And causing others to follow his own example , in every way he could.

In a rather chilling reminisce , those above were the exact words  Uncle Ezra used to admonish us with in 1980 , on our ill-fated mission to say greetings to our seldom seen Uncle. It did not make much sense to us then , why he would defer visiting with us  and admonish us vigorously like that , not even knowing us that well.

But now we can understand that a bit better . It perhaps was a life long mission to put to right an unfinished matter from his own youth ,to atone for his indiscretions. In his own way .

On the bitter cold day in Dec. 1983 , Uncle Ezra was laid to rest in Missouri.. His work on earth stopped then , although his influence continued on , even to today. Ezra Wagler 1916-1983 R.I.P. He had had a heart murmur , which got worse . Even in the early 80″s there were procedures for that , but he refused any and all treatment except a few pills .

The idea he had, that being extra strict in life is good , bore It’s fruit , and it was not that good a fruit in his own extended family ,over the years since . Peace and strictness do not go well together , ever . They still mostly struggle to find their way on that , may they find their peace somehow in it . Most of that branch of Waglers is living the Hard-scrabble Life , of incredible hardships , by Choice.

And as we hold the free copy of the “Botschaft” , Uncle Ezra”s main tool to fight worldliness,  We are reminded of what it takes to get through many an amish Church Service , which is somewhat similar in numbness to read through one of the weekly tomes.

The hard , unbending seats “Benches” leave no options for comfort . The 3 hrs of  monologue often leaves one weary in mind . The most inspiring part of many Amish Church services is the chanting of the singing , but even that is 400 years old .

It all comes back to the same kind of misleading  thought . Let us make it as hard for ourselves and others  here,  as we can , perhaps it will get us to heaven  ?

But praise God , there is a better way .

‘Jesse Wagler Dec.2010

Postscript— In 1963 in the final disposition of the J k & Sarah L Wagler estate ,There was just enough Funds left for a $50 voucher for each Grandchild.($325 in today’s inflated moneys) .it was suggested at that time that the $50 be used to purchase a hickory Rocking chair, or a sewing machine , or whatever , in memory of J K & Sarah L Wagler. Also Ezra Wagler”s Children were included in this disposition , Because of the exemplified ultra-strict life lead by Uncle Ezra , up to that time . The parents were the custodians of those funds until the child reached 21 , to recieve his or her Rocker..(If you are a grandchild , we hope you got yours…)…

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