The Chinese New Year’s celebration started on Valentines Day this year. It’s the Year of the Tiger, still being celebrated. Were there Chinese immigrants in Waseca County’s history? We found one Chinese immigrant who had a laundry business in Janesville, and according to newspaper accounts, moved his business to Waseca in 1903 because of harassment by local boys.

In Waseca his laundry was located on South State Street just north of the old city hall where Quality Print is located today. He likely washed, starched and ironed most of Waseca’s businessmen’s white shirts of the time. Then he was drafted into the army to serve in World War I. On June 27, 1918, he was photographed with the other young men posed front and center against the south exterior of the Waseca County Courthouse. They left that day for training camp. He was a member of the 22nd Company 161st Depot Brigade, Camp Grant, IL.

His stint in the army lasted less than one year. Did he survive World War I? Yes, he did. He
came back to Waseca, but in 1920 he sold his laundry to Mr. Brownson of the Waseca Steam Laundry, and moved to Minneapolis.  We recently found his name in the 1930 San Francisco census. This photograph is his service portrait from the World War I book in our Bailey-Lewer Research Library. To see other photographs, join WCHS online, and search “Yep Lun.”

Waseca County History. It's unexpected.