1908 has the unusual distinction of having two gentlemen from the southeast corner of Washington State representing the two major parties in a gubernatorial election. The victor was Samuel Goodlove Cosgrove of Pomeroy, who served a grand total of one day in office before leaving for California, where he died shortly after arrival. Runner-up John Pattison hailed from Colfax. They were the first nominees for Washington governor elected directly by the people through a primary election rather than being selected by a party convention.

John Pattison was born in Albany, NY in Jan. 1859.

Jan. 1859. I am going to jar the continuity here with a side note that seems worthy of mention. I cannot help but notice that about half of the Ungovernors up to this date have birthdates in months that begin with the letter "J." January: Young, Dunlap, Frink, Pattison. June: Semple, Sullivan, Caton. Big deal, right?

John was the son of John and Elizabeth Pattison, both Protestant Irish immigrants. His father had served in the Union Army during the Civil War. John Jr. left home at the age of 14 and headed for Silverton, Colorado "and engaged in mining for six years with varying though reasonable success, he went from there through Arizona and New Mexico, looking for a better mining location, and spending about two years in that country, making money, but at heavy expense." Having had ancestors myself who were his mining contemporaries, in nearby Ouray, Colorado I can guess Pattison became a later convert to the silver cause in 1896.

Pattison made his way to Colfax, Washington Territory. The dates vary from 1878 to 1882. His Colfax obituary stated he "came here as a poor boy." John started out working for the Oregon Railway & Navigation Co. on the Palouse branch. Later he became a business partner in the Colfax Hotel.

He was elected Whitman County Coroner in 1884 as a Republican.

On June 7th, 1885, he married Mary, the daughter of the local Baptist pastor. Her parents were from Scotland and England. His family would grow to seven children, all born 1887-1900 in Colfax, but he would outlive four them.

In Aug. 1886 he sold his interest in the hotel in order to devote his time to the real estate, loan, and insurance business. Somewhere between 1886 and the turn of the century, John became an attorney. Now the following is conjecture: John was a Republican in 1884, but he later became a Democrat. Whether he arrived at that landing point via the Silver Republicans (like Ungovernor Turner) or the Populists (like Gov. Rogers) is unknown, but it is probably safe to say it was the Silver issue that drove him out of the Republican Party. And for you fashion mavens he went from a little elite moustache to a full workingman beard between 1889-1908.

John served as Mayor of Colfax from 1907-1908, and it was during this period he filed for the very first primary election for Washington State Governor. There were five names on the Democratic Party ballot, none of them being well known figures. Somehow he narrowly edged out his competitors, but it was merely for the honor of being the official loser. Historian Richard Fisch explains: " The Democratic Party was bankrupt in both candidates and issues in 1908. The legislature had passed a direct primary law in 1907 and it came into use in 1908. All of the excitement took place among the Republicans. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate, John Pattison, received 6,268 votes in the primary compared to over 57,000 for the winning Republican. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor were contested on the Democratic ticket, but nobody filed for treasurer, auditor or attorney general. Only a last-minute write-in campaign saved the party from losing those offices by default."

Fisch describes the 1908 campaign: "Pattison kept an exceptionally low profile during the campaign, and even newspapers friendly to his candidacy had difficulty in finding much to say about him. His greatest political achievement had been his election as mayor of Colfax. He confined his campaign to a discussion of a guarantee of bank deposits and vague remarks about better administration of state business. The most publicity Pattison received during the campaign was when he came under attack by Royal Richmond, state superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League. According to Richmond, Pattison had approved the League's legislative program, but insisted that Richmond keep it secret so that the liquor men would not discover it. In public Pattison said that part of the League's program was untenable and possibly unconstitutional, but that he favored local option. The league endorsed the Republican."

John Pattison visited Olympia during the 1908 campaign. John Miller Murphy's Washington Standard was one of the few newspapers of the loyal opposition in that era, and here is how he covered Pattison's visit the to Capital City (Friday, Oct. 16, 1908): "Last Saturday evening a large and enthusiastic audience greeted John Pattison, Democratic nominee for Governor, in Olympia theater, which was a continuation of the ovation of the day that was bestowed notwithstanding the fact that he was a stranger to many of our people. He came recommended very highly, however, by the people who knew him well, and it proved a passport, united with his pleasing manners, to the hearts of the people. His speech was a plain, candid, and logical presentation of some of the points of difference of the two great parties in the present contest. He dwelt with special force upon the necessity of some adequate guaranty of bank deposits and approved the plan suggested by Bryan and tried with complete success in Oklahoma of a mutual reserve fund, established and maintained by themselves, sufficient to meet any demand that emergency might impose on any of its members. He contrasted this with the plan already provided by the Republicans, so far at least as having the remedial currency ready for issue, by which the government would go into partnership with the banks, by issue of five hundred millions of dollars of irredeemable currency, with any sort of watered railroad stock for security. If silver, with an intrinsic value as bullion was depreciated to about forty per cent with other standard values during the war, how could paper be held from going to about the value of rags? Mr. Pattison's presence was pleasing, and his address was plain and outspoken, commanding respect as the utterance of an honest, conscientious man of the people, a true Democrat, competent, and a reflex of the will of those who he may represent in the executive office. It is not too much to claim that he left an excellent impression with all who saw and heard him."

OK, so when I get about halfway through that description, my eyes start rolling toward the back of my head. And remember, this was written by a Pattison supporter. John did not appear to have any issues that were catching fire.

By the 1908 election the silver issue was dead. And deposit insurance was still a quarter century away. Pattison's timing was all off. Way off. In the final count he tallied only 58,126 votes (34.53%) compared to Cosgrove's 110,190, and did not win a single county, although he came close in his home base of Whitman County. Even the Colfax newspaper did not endorse him.

Still, Pattison paid his dues and went on to become a respected member of the Washington State Democratic establishment. In 1909, right after he lost the governorship, he moved to Spokane where he continued the practice of law. Mary died in Spokane Dec. 18, 1915.

John was a supporter of the Wilson administration and was known as a progressive. Pattison became a political intra-party opponent of Ungovernor Turner, who he blasted as a reactionary. In 1919 John was appointed to the Washington State Industrial Code Commission.

He died at his home in Spokane on Mar. 26, 1928.