Biography
Ignatz Simich was one of the eight miners convicted in March 1926 in the "Zeigler frame-up" — the prosecution of twenty progressive United Mine Workers members from the Klan-ridden coal town of Zeigler, Illinois, after a 1925 union-hall melee provoked by Klansmen. Convicted of assault with intent to murder and sentenced to one to fourteen years at the Chester penitentiary, he was bailed pending appeal after months inside. The case was a leading ILD defense campaign of 1926, and the spelling of the miners' names follows the ILD's Labor Defender.
The July 26, 1928 Zeigler defense report places this prisoner at Menard since December 1927, while Eddie Moleski was at Pontiac. The institutional distinction and month-level custody observation do not establish uninterrupted service from the first 1926 prosecution, an exact return day or a later discharge. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1928/1928-ny/v05-n176-NY-jul-26-1928-DW-LOC.pdf#page=5
Tom Bell’s February 11 Benton trial report describes defense testimony in the Zeigler prosecution, before the verdict. It names State’s Attorney Martin and two assistants retained by Lon Fox. Witnesses disputed the prosecution’s account of the August 11 union meeting; the report’s characterization of a frame-up is attributed to the labor-defense writer. Trial attendance is not a new prison admission, and the report supplies no physical release or measured term. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1926/1926-ny/v03-n028-NY-feb-13-1926-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
The birthday notice gives August25 and SouthernIllinoisPrison,Menard,for IgnatzSimich. This confirms the later Menard custody phase after the original Zeigler prosecution and intervening bail, without dating a new admission or physical discharge.
