William L. Stoughton

William Lewis Stoughton (March 20, 1827 - June 6, 1888) was a politician from U.S. state of Michigan.

Stoughton was born in Bangor, New York. He attended Kirkland, Painesville, and Madison Academies in Ohio. He studied law in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan from 1849 to 1851 when he was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Sturgis, Michigan.

Stoughton was a prosecuting attorney of St. Joseph County from 1855 to 1859 and a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention. He was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as United States District Attorney for the District of Michigan in March 1861, but resigned a few months later to enter the Union Army. He served as colonel and brigadier general and was promoted to the rank of major general by brevet. He resigned in August 1864 because of ill health and resumed the practice of his profession in Sturgis, Michigan in 1865.

In 1867, Stoughton became a member of the Michigan State Constitutional convention and served as Michigan Attorney General from 1867 to 1868. He was elected as a Republican from Michigan's 2nd congressional district to the 41st and 42nd Congresses, serving from March 4, 1869 to March 3, 1873. He returned to the practice of law in 1874.

William L. Stoughton died in Sturgis and was interred in Oak Lawn Cemetery.

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Preceded by Charles Upson	United States Representative for the 2nd Congressional District of Michigan 1869–1873	Succeeded by Henry Waldron
Preceded by Albert Williams	Michigan Attorney General 1867–1868	Succeeded by Dwight May