Beachy's Amish, Mennonite collection finds new homes
Leroy Beachy poured himself into collecting rare and valuable books and other reading material over the past six decades. He recently sold his library at auction, and its history took flight to many different states.
For the past six decades, Leroy Beachy of Berlin has been amassing a collection of books and other reading materials such as letters, postcards and documents that pertain to the Amish and Mennonite history.
Much of his collection has direct links to local communities all over Holmes County, in Kidron and other local areas. So when he decided to sell the collection at the age of 92, people from near and far traveled to try to purchase a piece of history that held sentimental value to them.
Beachy hosted a private auction on Friday, Oct. 15 at the Heritage Center near Winesburg, and a huge crowd gathered for a collection that contained much Anabaptist history that came here from Europe, much of it returning to families purchasing a piece of their past.
“This collection has been a passion of mine for a long time, and I wanted to make sure each piece went where it was appreciated,” Beachy said.
In addressing the crowd at the auction, Beachy relayed some of what brought the auction to light.
“For me, Oct. 15 has been a long-awaited goal,” Beachy said. “I am bidding goodbye to some of my ‘book friends’ of 20, 40 or 60 years, with which I have been rather intimately involved during the last 10 1/2 months.”
Beachy said he began preparing for the auction on Dec. 1 of last year, spending nearly every day lugging books from his upstairs spare bedroom to his workshop, where he sorted the material into groups and catalogued each book or group so people could gain insight into the history. He then photographed each of the 575 lots with each lot number, which was displayed at the auction on a big screen.
After creating a catalog for the auction, advertising and mailing catalogs followed, with more than 650 catalogs sent out to prospective buyers. He said he knew there would be both interested family members and collectors and antiquarian book dealers interested in making purchases, and he warned family members whose purpose of buying lay in the sentimental area that they would face competition from others seeking to make a profit.
The auction catalog contained a lengthy list of books and other memorabilia and was divided into several different categories. Category A consisted of 146 books that all had direct connections to Holmes County including 10 Ausbunds, three German 1748 Ephrata Martyrs’ Mirror, more than two-dozen books brought to America from immigrants, an 1800s deerskin deeds book issued to Holmes County pioneers and more.
Category A-K contained 25 items specifically related to the Sonnenberg Mennonite community of Kidron including nine European books. Category B consisted of booklets and pamphlets. Category C was filled with periodicals and magazines. Category D focused on genealogy and family histories. Category E was a folio of items that didn’t fit any of the prior categories, and Category F was unique unto itself, boasting a rare muzzle-loading rifle crafted by Amish gunsmith Reuben Yutzy, which brought a price of $35,000.
Paul Weaver from Jackson, Ohio was one of many people who ventured to the auction to try to purchase material that was directly related to his family history. Weaver purchased a book written by his father many years ago, a book that contained personal notes from the bishop in the New Order Amish community. That book was on communion messages and held sentimental value to Weaver.
He also bought a set of separation letters written by his wife’s grandfather to his wife, seeking a separation to their marriage, something that doesn’t occur often in the Old Order Amish community.
“He had an enlightenment, and somehow that was rejected by the church, and so he went into the Army and kind of lost his way,” Weaver said of the series of letters written in the 1940s. “Like many people here, some of this material holds great sentimental value to me.”
Ben Beachy is the grandson of Leroy Beachy, and he said he was documenting everything that went on in the auction.
“First and foremost, this is grandpa’s collection, and no way was I going to miss it,” Beachy said. “This is an incredible meeting of Plain people who share a history, and there is so much detailed history in the pages of these books and the collection being auctioned off, and so much of it is local.”
However, he also was there to purchase several pieces of his grandfather’s collection. The younger Beachy said he is keenly interested in reading material that focuses on conscientious objectors.
“I’m fascinated with anything to do with nonresistance, and there was also a couple of directories I wanted because I’ve been doing a lot of documentary work,” Beachy said. “The idea that we are Christian before we are American is fascinating, not that we aren’t patriotic. These CO’s found other ways to serve aside from holding a gun.”
Leroy Beachy opted to do a private auction in which he did a great deal of the work himself including cataloging and tagging all the material.
For him, watching his beloved collection being dispersed all over the nation was difficult, but at the same time, he saw it being purchased by families and organizations he knows will value it deeply.
“I got great satisfaction out of seeing where these books were going,” Beachy said. “I am grateful that much of the collections stayed right here at the Amish & Mennonite Heritage Center. The other thing that I appreciated was that people were willing to pay good prices. That means they have an appreciation for their heritage, and that means these books will be cherished and loved.”