william axton stokes (1814 – may 3, 1877) was an attorney born in philadelphia, pennsylvania who lived for a time in greensburg, pennsylvania where he served as legal counsel for the pennsylvania railroad company. he went on to serve as an american civil war major who contributed notes and references to an american edition of mathew hale's (1609–1676) "historia placitorum coronae" ("history of the pleas of the crown") published by r. h. small of philadelphia in 1847. between january 1863 and august 1864, he owned the republican, one of the first local newspapers in greensburg, pa.