The Sylvester Family of Plainview, Minnesota*

Edwin Sylvester dictates statement of remorse; guilty plea expected

February 6, 1926

PAGE 202

Sylvester’s statement was dictated by him to the Post-Bulletin correspondent. He spoke clearly without faltering and seemed relieved to think that his words were going directly to the people of Plainview. There was a sincere ring in his voice as he told of his earnest desire to do right.
(NOTE: Inserted here is Sylvester’s Statement)
Dictated on the Milwaukee train an hour before it reached Wabasha. "You can tell the people this; I am aware that I have done wrong. I am willing to do everything in my power to make amends for the sake of my family and my friends of a lifetime and for society in general. My doings should be a lesson to other bankers. I hope my health will be spared so that I may be able to show that while I am down now, I am not out. I have learned my lesson and will positively do the right thing hereafter. I am sorry for what I have done. And if I had it to do over again I would not run away. I would try and face the music. The boys (the deputy sheriff and county attorney) have given me a pleasant trip from Biloxi and have showed me all the courtesies possible in their position. I am glad this thing has got this far along. I haven’t got any money. I took none with me. The way I feel now I don’t expect to stand trial. I certainly don’t expect to put up a terrible fight. I guess that’s all." (NOTE: End of Statement.)
As Sylvester is lodged in jail, expressions of pity are heard all about him. He is such a sorrowful figure so pathetic in his worn out clothes that his appearance causes lumps to rise in many throats.
A broken-hearted, broken-spirited, forlorn-looking gray little man, garbed in tattered clothing, rough work shoes and a sweat-stained brown hat, carrying a big brown khaki-wrapped bundle, stepped off the train at Wabasha at 7:15 last night.
Beside the man was a big deputy sheriff. Behind him was the county attorney. The deputy sheriff shouldered a lane through a gaping, staring crowd of more than a hundred people, and the two men and their prisoner made their way swiftly and silently to a waiting automobile.
The automobile sped away, throwing a dozen following cars off the trail, and drew up beside the county jail. Three men walked hurriedly up the sidewalk and into the jail building.
The big iron door of a solitary cell on the second floor of the building clanged behind the little gray man.

Ed. Sylvester Was Back Home
Ed Sylvester – the man who once was the pride of Plainview, the citizen to whom the community pointed with pride and honored with the fullest faith and trust – was in the county jail after being a fugitive from justice for ten months.
This man who once wore the best clothes and lived in the best house in the village of Plainview sat behind the bars where he was left alone to decide whether he should plead guilty to one or several of the half dozen indictments against him – indictments ranging from accepting deposits in a defunct bank to embezzling $100,000.
Guilty Plea, Belief
He has indicated that, as far as he knows now, he will plead guilty. He is ready, he says "to face the music."
Sylvester was brought from Chicago yesterday in the last lap of the long journey from Biloxi, where he was captured and turned over to the Wabasha county authorities.
The Wabasha county jail was the fourth one he has slept in. He spent several days in the jail at Biloxi. He spent a night in the Parish prison at New Orleans. And he

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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."