The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota*

Bank shortage goes past $50,000; examiners focus on faulty mortgages

March 13, 1925 - March 20, 1925

PAGE 150

Information regarding the true situation of the bank is hard to get here as the examiners are strictly forbidden from making any statements. Their reports go into the state department where very little is given out. The topic is under discussion continually all through the community. There is considerable speculation in opinions and new stories are constantly appearing. The bank however still holds the confidence of many of its old patrons, many of whom have said that if the bank were to open again under the same management they would gladly entrust all their business to them.
County Attorney John R. Foley and Deputy Sheriff John Jacobs were here Monday with a warrant. They interviewed members of Mr. Sylvester’s family and friends but none had the least idea of his whereabouts. Mr. Foley carried his investigations to St. Paul Monday afternoon where he perfected plans for a nation wide search. He would not disclose his methods but his and the sheriff’s office were very busy Tuesday in carrying them out. A large number of photographs have been ordered for distribution.
Mr. Sylvester is one of the oldest residents of this community. He is well liked and had always been one of our most prominent and respected citizens. He was born on a farm near here. Previous to his entrance into the bank in 1882 he taught school for a few years. By hard and faithful work he gradually improved his standing until in 1905 he was elected president of the bank with which he has been connected for forty-three years. He is at present sixty-six years old.
Miss Katherine Sylvester of Rochester visited at the home of her parents Mr. and Mrs. G. F. Sylvester over the weekend.
March 20, 1925-

Defalcations Extend over Many Years
Evidence of Old Irregularities Uncovered by Examining Papers
Trace of Absconding Banker Fruitless After His Long Absence
Wabasha County Officials Using Effort to Locate Missing President
The conditions of the affairs of the Plainview State Bank are still a mater of speculative opinion. The state bank department has made no further statements except that the shortage has gone over $50,000. The general impression here is that it will take some time to get a definite statement of condition and that it will take several years to straighten out affairs.
The handling of mortgages is causing some of the greatest confusion. In one instance there are three mortgages on the same property and each was thought by the holder to be a first mortgage. In another instance a $2,200 mortgage has been issued eighteen years ago and final payment was made eleven years ago. Following the closing of the bank this mortgage showed up in the possession of a man at Beaver Dam, Wis. Questioning brought out the fact that no payments of interest had been missed but that none of the principal had been paid on the mortgage. The mortgagor, however, showed receipts from the bank totaling full payment of the mortgage and that the final payment had been made in 1914. Other mortgages are showing up that were thought to have been settled years ago. It is also being found that the bank has been very lax in recording papers.
There have been misrepresentations in obtaining signatures to papers. The appraisers in one estate of which Mr. Sylvester was executor signed the appraisal blanks. They were asked to sign two papers. In looking up the estate it was found that the second paper was signed as bondsmen. The estate is ten years old and is still partially unsettled. The Stratton Estate left a fund, the income from which goes to the Methodist Church and to the cemetery for twenty years and then the principle was to go to the church. The fund has been there twenty-three years.
How mixed up papers will effect the payment on deposits cannot be determined. Papers of estates and other things that have been used as the bank’s assets, we understand, will be taken care of, and an equity established for them.
County Attorney Foley reports that no progress has been made in the search for

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* SOURCE: Manzow, Ron (compiler), "The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota - a collection of information taken from the Plainview News, other newspapers, letters, and diaries beginning in 1884": Plainview Area History Center, 40 4th St. S.W., Plainview, MN 55964. Compiled in 2001.

NOTE: from Ron Manzow, December 2001: "Feel free to reproduce the pages for anyone who wants a copy. It was compiled to be shared... All I ask is that they consider sending a check to the [Plainview Area] History Center to help us out. That should be enough."