Patrick H. Winston was a Confederate Soldier in the Civil War as Aide to North Carolina Governor Zebulon B. Vance who had seen field service before being elected Gov in 1862.

Patrick H. Winston was Washington State Attorney General 1897-1901.

Says another obituary from a Seattle newspaper of the day:
"A noted state politician passed to the "great beyond" last Sunday when Patrick Henry Winston breathed his last at his home in Spokane. Mr. Winston was the political "character" of this section of the country. He had repeatedly held high positions in both the republican and Fusion parties, and at the time of his death was publishing one of the best weekly papers in the state. He said some funny things, he said some true things, and he said some cutting things, all of which the politicians of this state will have reason to remember for years to come. Mr. Winston was a North Carolinian by birth, and served in the Confederate army. Since the reconstruction days he has for the most part been a Republican."

"He was the sort of man who enjoyed embracing lost causes and relished the fight." WA. State Blog

From the Colfax (WA) Gazette of 8 April 1904 on page 4:
“In the death of Patrick Henry Winston Spokane and the state of Washington loses a unique character. Many loved him because of his good qualities of mind and heart, while others admired him because of the enemies he was able to make. Patrick Henry Winston was one of the prominent members of a well-known aristocratic southern family, liberally educated and endowed with splendid gifts of oratory and native humor.

He came west in 1884, having been appointed register of the United States land office at Lewiston, Idaho, by President Arthur. In 1866 Mr. Winston moved to Spokane and began the practice of law and was editor of the Spokane Review before its consolidation with the Spokesman. He was elected attorney general for the state of Washington in 1896 and in 1898 became ill and was compelled to seek treatments from eminent eastern specialists. In 1900 he again returned to Spokane and in 1903 founded Winston’s Weekly, a journal, every number of which was interesting because of the style in which the articles were written.

Patrick Henry Winston said many things some people could not agree with, yet he always held his audiences and his readers. In his public speeches sparkling wit was blended with eloquent oratory and a wonderful descriptive vocabulary. In debate his answers were invariably spontaneous and telling. "