Spartansburg, Pa.: Amish, non-Amish cultures meet in borough where Byler attack happened

Valerie Myers, Erie Times-News
·2 min read
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SPARTANSBURG — The Crawford County community where a pregnant Amish woman was killed on Feb. 26, is just 35 miles from Erie but in some ways is a world apart.

Rebekah Byler, 23, was found dead in her Sparta Township home by her husband and a family friend. Two young toddlers in the home were unhurt.

A Corry man, Shawn C. Cranston, 52, has been charged with criminal homicide in Byler's death, along with criminal homicide of an unborn child, burglary and criminal trespass. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.

The town where 2 cultures meet

Spartansburg is the hub of the northern Crawford County Amish community, the largest in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Horses-drawn buggies through the town, population 263, and wait patiently at hitching posts behind the post office, at the Family Dollar store and at Clear Lake while their owners take care of business on Main Street and visit with friends along the sidewalk between Bova's Hardware and the Dutch Treat restaurant.

An Amish buggy travels south on Pennsylvania Route 77 through Spartansburg in northeastern Crawford County on March 6.
An Amish buggy travels south on Pennsylvania Route 77 through Spartansburg in northeastern Crawford County on March 6.

"Spartansburg is a tight-knit community. We all support one another and pull together when times get tough," according to a Bova's Hardware-produced brochure of Amish-owned businesses.

Bova's Hardware owners, after Byler's killing, launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the family.

According to the Amish business directory, "The Amish Community plays a major role in the success of our business, and we want to make sure all of the businesses in our area are successful too."

Amish farms, lumber mills and cottage industries are mainly located in Sparta Township, which surrounds the little town.

There are harness shops, cabinet and woodcraft shops, a general store, fabric stores and a shop selling solid oak furniture. There are also construction and repair businesses and enough carpentry shops to be featured in a separate Bova's-produced brochure.

How to help: Fundraisers aim to benefit husband, children of Amish woman killed in Crawford County

Amish buggies are parked behind the Spartansburg post office in northeastern Crawford County on March 6.
Amish buggies are parked behind the Spartansburg post office in northeastern Crawford County on March 6.

Many of the businesses bear the family names of their owners, including Byler, Miller, Troyer, Hochstetler and Wengerd.

And all are closed on Sunday in keeping with the Amish's strict observance of the sabbath.

Water from Clear Lake empties into the east branch of Oil Creek in Spartansburg, northeastern Crawford County, on March 6.
Water from Clear Lake empties into the east branch of Oil Creek in Spartansburg, northeastern Crawford County, on March 6.

Their Christian religion is rooted in the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Rules concerning technology use, interactions with the non-Amish, dress and buggy colors vary between settlements, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Lancaster.

The Spartansburg area settlement was founded in 1966 and today is estimated to include 2,525 children and adults in 17 districts — groups of families that worship together as congregations, according to statistics compiled by the Young Center's Edsel Burdge Jr. in 2022.

Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Spartansburg: Small town in PA Amish country rocked by Byler homicide