William Henry Stanton (congressman)

William Henry Stanton
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district
In office 1876–1877
Preceded by	Winthrop W. Ketcham
Succeeded by	Hendrick B. Wright
Member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 20th district
In office 1875–1876
Preceded by	Edward Scull
Succeeded by	George B. Seamons
Personal details
Born	July 28, 1843 New York City, U.S.
Died	March 28, 1900 (aged 56) Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Democratic

William Henry Stanton (July 28, 1843 – March 28, 1900) was an attorney, editor, politician and judge. He served as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district, elected to fill the vacancy when Winthrop Welles Ketcham resigned and serving for three months from December 1876 to early March 1877. He was previously editor of the Scranton Daily Times (now the Times-Tribune) until 1872.^[1]

In 1877 Stanton was elected as a state judge for the County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County (which then included much of present-day Lackawanna County). After Lackawanna County was organized by the state legislature in 1878, and designated as a separate judicial district, Stanton chose to be reassigned to its County Court in Scranton.

He resigned from the judgeship in February 1879. He was prosecuted and acquitted of libel in September 1879 following charges by William Walker Scranton, general manager of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, who objected to newspaper articles published in August 1878. Stanton had been indicted in the scandal because of witness testimony.