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Arrest, property and business records in San Francisco 1920-32

Zev Robinson

In 1920, my Ukrainian-born great-grandfather Rabbi Bernard Robinson was a junk dealer in Nebraska but later that year he had become an Orthodox Rabbi in San Francisco, and was arrested for selling a "large quantity" of wine in 1925, although acquitted of the charge. In 1927, he put up a $5,000 (about $85,000 today) bond for an associate, and told the judge he was worth $150,000, about $2.5 million today. I'm looking for records of this and possibly other arrests, and for records of any properties or businesses he may have owned. He died in 1932. Any leads would be most appreciated.

  • 0

    Dear Zev Robinson,

     

    Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

     

    We suggest that you contact the California State Archives, the California Historical Society, the San Francisco Historical Society, the San Francisco Public Library, the Office of the County Clerk | San Francisco, or other similar state and local organizations and offices for assistance with your research. 

     

    If you believe your great grandfather may have been tried in a Federal court in California, then you may also wish to contact The National Archives at San Francisco or the National Archives at Riverside for further assistance.

     

    We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your family research!

     

  • 0 in reply to Rachael Salyer

    Thanks, Rachael, very helpful, and I'll look into them.

  • 0

    Hi Zev, my grandmother and her sister owned the property after your Great Grandparents (Zaida L. Clark)... I've been vigorously scouring the internet in search of a picture of this home and have only been able to find two and neither are great...one's taken in 1906 after the earthquake, the other is 1954 after being obtained by the San Francisco redevelopment agency. You may have already found them, but I'll include them here in case not. Here's the description of the home as dictated to me by my Aunt who spent her early years in the home: There was a white marble staircase leading to the front french doors. Down at the street level there was a large hall they used as a dance hall, two very large baths that looked like hot tubs (could these be like a Mikvah?) The house had 14' ceilings and large windows and doors, a corner tower(turret) with a dome top instead of a witche cap. It was typical of the upper middle class victorians built in the late 1800-1900's. The earliest resident I can find in the home was Adolph Becker,  owner of the very successful Odeon Dinner Theater,  so I suspect he's the one who built the home...he was of German Jewish descent. This is pretty much all I know of the home prior to my grandmother and her sister turning it into a very discrete wartime bordello that catered to military officers. I could tell you more stories but you wouldn't believe them :) 1122 in first pic is the far right home with colorful trim (you can see the white marble steps leading up on the other side of the telephone pole. The other pic is the best one I have of the home just after the redevelopment agency bought it from my grandmother.  

  • +1

    Are you still interested in finding the information about your great grandfather's properties and businesses?  I typed a long detailed answer and somehow when I went back to check one detail the answer disappeared from the page.  I will write it out again if you are still interested.

  • 0 in reply to Chi-chi

    Hi, Thanks for your message, I'm curious to find out what info you have.

  • 0

    A website called Newspapers,com contains both digitized articles and references to articles that appeared in the San Francisco newspapers. (Newspapers.com is owned by Ancestry.com) 

    One of the papers covered by Newspapers.com is "The Recorder," a newspaper published in San Francisco.  The Recorder describes itself as the "Official Organ of the Courts" and as such, contains many, many items about your great grandfather, Bernard Robinson.  As an example, there is "Notice to Creditors," which appeared after your great grandfather's death, on March 22, 1932, p.7.  Another is the notice in the Recorder of May 31, 1930, p. 7 entitled "Summons to Establish Title."  The latter notice refers to a case in which your great grandfather is a plaintiff in a case before the Superior Court of the State of California in and for the City and County of San Francisco.  

    There are lots of entries such as the two cited above.  If the entries don't provide the complete records of the court cases, they at least provide enough information -- dates, courts, names of attorneys -- to locate the actual records.  A local law librarian, or maybe even a law student, ought to be able to help you find the complete records.

    In addition to the Recorder, the entries in Newspapers.com include articles from some of the major papers in San Francisco -- the Bulletin, the Examiner, and the Chronicle.  In some cases Newspapers.com provides the entire article and in others it provides only a citation.  In order to read the citation-only articles, you must have a subscription to the "enhanced" Newspapers.com.  An alternative is to copy down the citations and then find the articles on microfilm in a local library (assuming you live in the San Francisco area).

    A particularly interesting full-text article concerning Bernard Robinson appeared in the San Francisco Bulletin of March 4, 1924, p, 1 and cont'd on page 8.  The material on page 8 concerns your great grandfather.  The article is about Prohibition enforcement.

    While most public libraries subscribe to Ancestry.com, very few subscribe to Newspapers.com. However Newspapers.com offers a free trial for a week.

    One tantalizing entry I spotted in the Recorder appeared on October 14, 1920 entitled "Abstract from Records Compiled by Title Insurance and Guaranty Co. Deeds, [dated] October 8, 1920."  I couldn't make heads or tails out of the data but it included the names Anna & Adolf Becker and on the same line Bernard Robinson.  Maybe you'll do better.

    I should say that I didn't read all the entries from the Recorder.  There were too many.

    Good luck with your search.

  • 0 in reply to Chi-chi

    Thanks a million, Chi-chi. I have to go through all my files, but I think I have some that I found on newspapers.com. However, there is at least one that I definitely don't have which is that last one you mention about from the Recorder.

    I think I have the Notice to Creditors, advertized in another newspaper perhaps, but don't the Summons to Establish Title. I will look for all these. I had a subscription to Newspapers.com, but it has elapsed.

    I do not live in the Bay area, but will eventually have to pay a visit.

    Great research and suggestions, thank you very much.

    Zev