Immigrant experience often overlooked

Lincoln impersonator turns thesis on

German immigration into book

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- German influences are so ingrained in Minnesota culture that they are frequently unrecognized, said author, teacher and Abraham Lincoln impersonator Bryce Stenzel.

Stenzel came to New Ulm Sunday to sign copies of his new book, German Immigration to the Minnesota River Valley Frontier at the Wanda Gag house.

The book grew out of a master's thesis he wrote about German immigration while a student at Minnesota State University-Mankato. He decided to revive it as a book because it contained too much information to simply languish at the back of the MSU library.

Stenzel's long-standing interest in German immigration prompted the thesis and now the book. "Writing this gave me a chance to explore my family history," he said.

While in high school, Stenzel discovered an ancestor who fought in the 5th Minnesota Regiment during the Civil War. Through discussions with his grandmother about the ancestor, he learned more details.

"The more I investigated, the more interested I became," Stenzel said.

He teaches history at River Bend Charter School in Mankato.

He recently wrote a play about Lincoln's life.

According to Stenzel, Lincoln had a connection to southwestern Minnesota because he personally investigated and pardoned some 300 Dakota who were sentenced to be hanged in Mankato for their participation in the 1862 Dakota War.

Lincoln became Stenzel's hero because the president's life embodied the American dream -- growing up poor and making history as an adult.

In 1862, the president actually wasn't very popular in the New Ulm area. The German settlers, who fought the Dakota twice, wanted revenge, but Lincoln stepped in, investigated and made his decisions.

Stenzel first started impersonating Lincoln at a costume party using an old tuxedo given to him by an aunt. Then, in 1990, he dressed as Lincoln on Feb. 12, Lincoln's birthday, and taught a lesson on the 16th president to his class. He became a hit with his students.

Since then, he's been getting calls from private organizations and historical societies. He and a friend went to Washington, D.C., in 1995 on April 12, the date that Lincoln was shot in Ford's Theatre nearly 200 years earlier.

Most of the information in Stenzel's book comes from local historical societies. He said he decided to focus on German immigrants in the New Ulm and Mankato area.

"The story is that the German immigrant experience is often overlooked," he said. "They were aggressive agents of change in that once they came, they stayed and they didn't move on."

The first settlers started coming to the valley in the early 1850s, just as the treaty of Traverse des Sioux was signed. The cities of Henderson, St. Peter, Le Sueur and New Ulm popped up almost overnight. The Germans remained Minnesota's most dominant ethnic group until Scandinavian immigrants started to migrate around 1905.

Many Germans came simply because it allowed them an opportunity to start a new life in America. Some, like the Turners, were fleeing political persecution for their ideas.

Immigration came in two big waves, Stenzel said. One came up through Louisiana and settled in Texas. The other started in New York City, made its way westward to Cincinnati and Chicago and finally wound up in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Stenzel said New Ulm is "essential in terms of name recognition. It was also essential because of the area I wanted to cover."

German immigrants brought with them culinary traditions that continue to be found in modern-day-grocery stores such as pumpernickel bread, sausages and coffee cake, Stenzel said.

Many German immigrants defended their property and way of life during the Dakota conflict and also fought in the Civil War.

Stenzel said he enjoyed piecing the book together and watching the story take shape, but limited resources made the task challenging.

The book is published by Minnesota Heritage Publishing.