The Amish Aid Society of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an unchartered organization of the Old Order Amish Mennonites of the county, was founded in the early 1890s with Benjamin Beiler as the first secretary and Jonas Fisher as the first treasurer. In addition to the secretaries and treasurers, there is a trustee in each of the other districts, of which there were approximately twenty in the 1950s. The members assess their own buildings, subject to the final decisions of the secretaries. All of the trustees in May of each year divide the annual losses pro rata among the trustees. Lebanon County, the Kishacoquillas Valley in Mifflin County and St. Mary’s County, Maryland, are also in the Society in addition to the local and Chester County groups.      

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, pp. 89-90. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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