William Lewis Stoughton (March 20, 1827 – June 6, 1888) was a politician and soldier from U.S. state of Michigan who served in the United States Congress, as well as serving as a general and brigade commander in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Stoughton was born in Bangor, New York. He attended Kirtland, Painesville, and Madison Academies in Lake County, 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. William L. Stoughton died in Sturgis and was interred in Oak Lawn Cemetery.