Biography
Herman Bausch was a Billings farmer convicted under Montana's state sedition law on May 14, 1918. He received four to eight years at Deer Lodge and was paroled September 12, 1920. His prosecution arose from antiwar statements following coercion to purchase Liberty Bonds.
The original Montana State Prison intake form lists an age of 36, birth in Germany, and occupation as farmer and carpenter. It records actual receipt at Deer Lodge on 1918-05-23 and sentencing on 1918-05-17 in the state sedition case. The admission is distinguished from an earlier arrest, and the printed sentence is distinguished from actual service; no physical discharge is supplied. It includes named frontal and profile photographs. Source: https://clcowgill.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/a-m.pdf#page=2
1920s custody-date review: Prison entry added at year precision. The April 13 coercive seizure is not substituted for an unverified formal arrest date; the May 14 verdict is not treated as prison admission. January 1 is only a storage anchor.
Source: Montana Sedition Project, selected profiles.
The original Montana State Prison descriptive intake form records the sentence date as 1918-05-17 and records the plea/trial response as: Did not plead guilty; stood trial. This sentencing entry is separate from receipt at the penitentiary.
