C. Fremont, in the 1856 election. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1857, losing to William F. Packer. Later Congressional service Wilmot was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of United States Senator Simon Cameron and served from March 14, 1861, to March 3, 1863. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1862. He was a member of the Peace Convention of 1861, held in Washington, D.C., in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending American Civil War. Federal judicial service Wilmot was nominated by President Abraham Lincoln on March 6, 1863, to the Court of Claims (later the United States Court of Claims), to a new seat authorized by 12 Stat. 765. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 7, 1863, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated upon his death on March 16, 1868. He was interred in Riverside Cemetery in Towanda. Family Wilmot was the son of Randall (1792–1876) and Mary (née Grant) Wilmot (1792–1820). His father was a well-to-do merchant, and David's early life was a comfortable one. In 1836, he married Anna Morgan. The couple had three children, none of whom survived childhood. Legacy and honors A Pennsylvania State historical marker is placed at Williams Street at the Riverside Cemetery, Towanda, identifying the cemetery as his resting place. The Wilmot House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, and David Wilmot School in 1988. References Sources Berwanger, Eugene H. The Frontier Against Slavery: Western Anti-Negro Prejudice and the Slavery Extension Controversy. (1967) . Foner, Eric. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party Before the Civil War. (1970) . Levine, Bruce. Half Slave and Half Free: The Roots of Civil War. (1992). McKnight, Brian D., article on David Wilmot in Encyclopedia of the American Civil War, edited by David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, 2000, . Morrison, Michael A. Slavery and the American West: The Eclipse of Manifest Destiny and the Coming of the Civil War. (1997) . External links 1814 births 1868 deaths 19th-century American judges 19th-century American politicians Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Free Soil Party members of the United States House of Representatives Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas