Richard Henry Stanton (September 9, 1812 – March 20, 1891) was a politician, lawyer, editor and judge from Kentucky.

A Democrat, he served three terms as a Congressman from Kentucky and was imprisoned during the Civil War.

[1] At the beginning of the Civil War, Stanton was arrested and held at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio for supporting secession.

[1] He resumed practicing law until his retirement in 1885 and died on March 20, 1891, in Maysville, Kentucky.

He argued that the proposed name would easily be confused with the nation's capital, the District of Columbia.