Elam and Nic Stoltzfus are the ultimate father/son duo. Elam is a Grammy award-winning documentary maker and Nic is an award-winning storyteller. Together they make up the Live Oak Production Group. They focus mostly on making nature documentaries and accompanying coffee-table books.
Nic Stoltzfus graduated from CCI’s School of Communication in 2012 and has been telling stories ever since. He wrote the script and accompanying coffee-table books for several documentaries including Apalachicola River and Bay: A Connected Ecosystem, which was nominated for a Suncoast Emmy in the writing category. Nic’s latest project dug into his own Amish history, something he wasn’t exactly on board with at first.
Elam, who grew up Amish in Lancaster County, was the one with the idea. Nic, however, felt no strong connection to the area until a visit to the Historic Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead in Wyomissing changed his mind. That visit turned into months of research which turned into the book “German Lutherans to Pennsylvania Amish: The Stoltzfus Family Story.”
Elam and Nic originally planned on creating a documentary to tell the story but had to change directions when the Nicholas Stoltzfus Preservation Committee raised concerns about the project. Older members of the community were not comfortable with a documentary but were very excited about the idea of a book.
The team, comprised of Nic, Elam, Rose Beiler, and Zach Stoltzfus, spent the first part of their research in Germany digging through centuries-old records. “This is probably the most difficult creative project I’ve done,” Nic told Lancaster Online, “because there are so many moving pieces from 200 years’ worth of history and research, but I’m very grateful to have had really good research guides.”
When Nic returned to America, he took a job as the caretaker of the Nicholas Stoltzfus Homestead. While living there, Nic gave tours of the homestead to over 500 visitors in one summer. In an interview with Jon Ferguson, Nic said, “It’s been a big adjustment (moving to Pennsylvania), but people have been really good to me and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my Amish heritage better, as well as getting to know the Lancaster-Berks-Chester county area. I’ve really enjoyed it up here, so I’m planning on staying for a long period of time.”
While in Pennsylvania, he wrote the 132-page book which details the fascinating story of Nicholas Stoltzfus, a German Lutheran born in 1719. At just five years old, Nicholas went to work on an Amish farm after the passing of his father. Germany did not legally recognize the Amish people, meaning for Nicholas to marry an Amish woman, he had to promise to leave the country. He married Katharina Bermann and moved to Philadelphia in October of 1766. Nicholas died in 1774, but he and his son Christian are considered the forefathers of the Stoltzfus name in America.
Nic’s book follows the Stoltzfus name throughout history. You can purchase the book here.