Muddy Pond Mishmash

By Kevin Williams

Among people like myself who study Amish settlements, Muddy Pond, Tennessee enjoys a sort of mythical status. I've heard so much about Muddy Pond over the years and it is on my "bucket list" of Plain communities I want to visit someday, but I've never made it there. One of my friends, however, stumbled into Muddy Pond last week and was nice enough to get some photos. Muddy Pond is officially a Mennonite community, but, from what I have heard, there is sort of a mish-mash of Plain people here: ex-Amish, people who still consider themselves Amish, people who want to join the Amish and plenty of Mennonites. I've not quite pinned down the theology of the community yet or its organizational structure.

Check out this video of 90-year-old (she's 95 or 96 now) Katie Troyer and her yodeling. I was in touch with the family at one time and they said her maiden name was Schwartz, so she has Swiss Amish roots from Berne, Indiana. Not sure how she ended up in Muddy Pond, but what a gem this woman is. Click here to see the video

Now check out some photos from Muddy Pond. Thank you to Jessica Alcorn for the great photos, one of these days I'll make it to Muddy Pond!