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

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Born in Alexandria, DC, he completed preparatory studies, attended Alexandria Academy, studied law and was admitted to the bar, commencing practice in

Maysville, Kentucky Maysville is a home rule-class city in Mason County, Kentucky, United States and is the seat of Mason County. The population was 8,782 as of 2019, making it the 51st-largest city in Kentucky by population. Maysville is on the Ohio River, north ...

in 1835. He was editor of the ''Maysville Monitor'' from 1835 to 1842 and served as postmaster of Maysville. He was elected a Democrat to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

in 1848, serving from 1849 to 1855. There, he served as chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds from 1849 to 1853 and of the Committee on Elections from 1853 to 1855. He was unsuccessful for reelection in 1854. Afterwards, Stanton served as a state's attorney from 1858 to 1861. At the beginning of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Stanton was arrested and held at

Camp Chase Camp Chase was a military staging and training camp established in Columbus, Ohio in May 1861 after the start of the American Civil War. It also included a large Union-operated prison camp for Confederate prisoners during the American Civil War ...

in Columbus, Ohio for supporting secession. Stanton was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1868, whose slogan was "This is a White Man's Country, Let White Men Rule". He was a district judge from 1868 to 1874. He resumed practicing law until his retirement in 1885 and died on March 20, 1891, in

. He was interred there in Maysville Cemetery. Stanton is credited with naming

Washington Territory The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

, later the state of Washington, during an 1853 debate over the territory's preferred name of "Columbia". He argued that the proposed name would easily be confused with the nation's capital, the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

. Congress later approved the "Washington" name change and President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853; he was the last to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House. A former member of the U.S. House of Represen ...

signed the bill into law on March 2, 1853, officially creating the Washington Territory. He was the brother of the politician Frederick Perry Stanton who served U.S. House from Tennessee and as interim Territorial Governor of Kansas.

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* 1812 births 1891 deaths Kentucky lawyers Kentucky postmasters American newspaper editors Politicians from Alexandria, Virginia Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American politicians Journalists from Virginia Lawyers from Alexandria, Virginia 19th-century American lawyers {{Kentucky-politician-stub