The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota*

County Attorney Leaves to Bring Edwin Sylvester back from Biloxi, MS

January 30, 1926

PAGE 178

Mrs. Sylvester added. Her attorney stated that Mrs. Sylvester knew nothing of the affairs of the bank. He also made it clear that he was representing Mrs. Sylvester and not the man arrested at Gulfport.
Mrs. Sylvester came here from Minneapolis to be present at the hearing this afternoon. The meeting between her and Murdoch had been previously arranged. (NOTE: In another clipping was the following account – Mrs. Sylvester conferred in Winona with her attorney, J. W. Murdoch. Her first knowledge that her husband had been arrested came while she was sitting in the sun parlor of the Hotel Winona Saturday morning awaiting the arrival of Mr. Murdoch. She overheard the conversation of a man washing windows nearby, she revealed to a friend later.
"I was sitting in the parlor," she said, "when some one came in and remarked: ‘Well, they have caught Sylvester.’ The news was such a shock to me that I nearly fainted. I suppose they did not know who I was or they might have been more careful about what they said.")
January 30, 1926– Rochester Daily Bulletin

E. L. Sylvester, Plainview Banker, Captured in Mississippi Village
Working as Fireman in Hotel When Found; Glad Hunt is Ended
County Attorney Foley Gets News of Capture Friday Night
Will Be Brought Back For Hearing
Arrest Ends Continent-wide Search that Began Last Spring
Gulfport, Miss. January 30 (Special) – Edwin L. Sylvester, missing president of the Plainview State Bank, was arrested by Sheriff Duckworth at Biloxi, Mississippi, last night at 9 PM.
Sylvester was acting as a fireman at the Avon Hotel in that city, having been there for two weeks. He was acting suspiciously, it was said, and someone associated with him reported his case to the sheriff. He was recognized by the sheriff from a picture sent out by the Burns Detective agency.
Sylvester calmly submitted to arrest and admitted his guilt.
He stated that the money had been lost in land speculations. Falling prices had caused him to use additional sums in an attempt to cover up the losses until the illegal transactions could no longer be covered up.
He absconded to escape arrest. Sheriff Duckworth notified the authorities of Wabasha County and told them to come and get him.
Sylvester is in good health, and seems to be glad that the man-hunt is over. He will probably return without requisition papers. He has been on the Mississippi coast for several weeks.
Long Man-Hunt For Banker is Success
The continent-wide hunt for Edwin Sylvester is ended, County Attorney John R. Foley announced today.
Sylvester is in the hands of authorities in Gulfport, Mississippi, awaiting the arrival of authorities to take him back home, where he must face charges of embezzling $120,000 from the Plainview bank.
A telegram received last night by County Attorney Foley from the sheriff at Gulfport read: "Sylvester arrested, admits identity."
County Attorney Leaves to Bring Sylvester Back
The county attorney, accompanied by Deputy Sheriff Ed. Fitzgerald, left Wabasha today for Minneapolis to take a train for Chicago. From Chicago they will go to Gulfport to bring the missing banker back to Minnesota to face charges. At St. Paul County Attorney Foley visited the governor’s office to secure the necessary papers to assure Sylvester’s extradition.
County Attorney Foley declined to disclose how he had traces Sylvester to Gulfport. "I cannot tell how we obtained our information, except to say that his arrest

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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."