The Zemansky Family

The suppositions:
4 Dec 1921: Sands burglarized Wm D Taylor's apartment & stole jewelry and left.
12 Dec 1921: A man identified as Sands signed his name William Dean Tanner & pawned some of Taylor's jewelry for $20.00 at the Capitol Jewelry & Loan Company on 1817 Mariposa Street in Fresno.
24 Dec 1921: More of Taylor's jewelry were pawned for $10.00 at the Zemansky Loan & Jewelry Company in Sacramento; supposedly the man pawning the jewelry was identified as Sands & the name of William Deanne Tanner was on the pawn picket.

Interesting Findings:
Nathan & Adele Zemansky immigrated to the US from Europe. The Zemanskys were one of the earliest Jewish families in California. They settled in Sacramento where they raised their 10 children. Several of their sons were entrepreneurs, including the following:

1.) Son Jacob "Jake" (1870-1937) was a pawn broker & jewelry merchant in Sacramento. He was also a diamond importer. In 1898, Jake was the proprietor of an establishment called "The Palm" at 225 K Street in Sacramento and in 1910 he owned the Majestic Theatre at 310 K Street in Sacramento. He was a leader in the Jewish community and was known for his philanthropies in Northern & Southern California.

2.) Son Ellis (1875-1955) started The Ellis Mercantile & Ellis Props and Graphics which began as a pawn shop in and later specialized in renting props to the film & television studios. Ellis was truly a pioneer in the prop supply business. He also created engraved movie prop paper money.

3.) Son Joseph (1877-1953) owned a chain of jewelry stores in California. He also discovered Jack Johnson, the former world's heavyweight champion prize fighter and managed him for several years. In 1927, he was a member of the group that built and operated the Agua Caliente result just below the Mexican border. Jack and his wife moved to Reno in the 1930's and owned the Club Fortune, at one time a popular night club in western Nevada. Joseph & Sadie Zemansky
4-6.) Sons Sol (1889-1952), Abe (1885-1878), and David (b.1884-1958) were Los Angeles pawnbrokers. They operated the Provident Loan Association, one of the largest businesses of its kind in the west, and the State Loan Office. In 1939, the brothers claimed to be broke and filed for bankruptcy. They listed creditors in a 23 page document including the following:
*M. Albori (aka Albert Marco) a once reputed proprietor of brothels and gaming places, who spent time in San Quentin Prison and then went back to Italy.
*Police officer WJ Jolin or Mrs. Jackie Jolin, $10,000.
*Teddy Crawford, nephew of Charles Crawford, who was shot and killed years before, $10,000.
*The estate of Herman Cline, former captain of police detectives $14,000.
*WH Caddel, police officer $1,500.
*Robert J. Gans, reputed head of the slot machine business on the Pacific Coast $26,144.46.
*Frank Carroll, former police detective, who left the Police Department for the real estate business $50,000.
*The Citizens National Trust & Savings Bank $10,928.29
The Zemansky assets included:
Along with the Provident Loan Association and the State Loan Office, they owned 1/3 interest in a card parlor at El Cerrito, California and an interest in a tango game at Butte, Montana.