The Ogemaw County (Michigan, USA) Amish settlement, now extinct, was a small group of Old Order Amish living near West Branch, Ogemaw County, MI in 1908-1930. Most of the early settlers moved there from Nobles County, MN, including the Joseph N. Gerber, Daniel B. Gerber, and a number of Jantzi families. They were followed by Miller, Eash, Swartz, Kropf, and Bender families from Oscoda County, MI, and by a few Miller families from Elkhart County, IN. The bishop in charge was Joseph N. Gerber, succeeded by Jacob Gascho. Other ministers were John B. Gerber, Klaus Jantzi, Jacob Swartz, and Solomon Jantzi. The group at its largest consisted of about twenty families. In 1925-1928 the Amish families began to move away, most of them going to Ontario; by 1933 the congregation had died out.

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, pp. 23-24. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

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