The KREIDERS
The early KREIDER/CRIDER families were from Germany, and were members of the Mennonite sect of the protestant religion, who fled Europe in the late 1600s and early 1700s to avoid religious prosecution. There seems to be some confusion among the general public, regarding the differences between these two sects, both of whom settled in Pennsylvania, predominately in Lancaster and Lebanon counties. Many people believe they are one and the same religious group.
Our KREIDER ancestors, moved from the area of Lancaster and Lebanon counties, westward to Adams and Franklin counties, Pennsylvania, and there for the most part anglicized the name to CRIDER. As they spread from Pennsylvania to different areas of the United States, many left the Mennonite Church for other religions.
Two explanations below will help clear up the confusion between these two sects.
The MENNONITES
A sect of protestanism. The name comes from Menno Simons, a Dutch religious reformer. using the Christian Bible as the source of all their beliefs, the Mennonites baptize adult believers bur not infants. Mennonites are nonviolent and refuse to take oaths. They are not much concerned with worldly matters. In the past they have dressed and lived simply and have generally worked as framers. Mennonites were once persecuted in may parts of the world. In 1683, William Penn offered them freedom to come to the colony of Pennsylvania, and many settled there. A number of groups have developed within the Mennonite Church. The Amish, for example separated from the Mennonites in the late seventeenth century. Source: Berges, Gilda, RELIGION, Franklin Watts, NY, 1983, p59-60
The AMISH
Amish, members of a religious sect that is an offshoot of the Mennonites. Under the leadership of Jakob Amman, a Swiss Mennonite bishop from whom they derive their name, the Amish broke away from the parent body between 1693 and 1697. The schism resulted chiefly from an emphasis on the practice of shunning, or complete avoidance of excommunicated persons. Amman's followers adhered to this and other dogmas, and their conservation forced them to separate from the main body of Swiss Mennonites. As a result of the general persecution of the Mennonites, most Amish fled from Europe to North America, and there are now virtually no Amish in Europe bearing the original name and upholding of the early principles. In the United States there are records of Amish in Pennsylvania as early as 1727, and the largest concentration today are in Lancaster Co., PA. There are also significant groups in Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada.
The Amish people are noted for their uniformity of dress and for the self-sufficiency of the communities in which they live. The women wear simple black dresses, bonnets, and shawls, and the men traditionally wear hats and do not shave their beards. the Amish live chiefly by farming. The most conservative of them, called the Old Order Amish, avoid any use of electricity or automobiles.
The Beachy Amish, named for their leader Moses Beachy, divided from the more conservative Old Order Amish in 1927. The split developed when the Beachy Amish decided to use automobiles.
Amish settlements are made up of church districts that are self-contained and self-governing. The Amish practice adult baptism. In the United States, the membership of the Old Order Amish number about 80,000; that of the Beachy Amish, about 5000. In Ontario there are about 2000 Old Order Amish.