As was the case with many Whigs , Howell shifted his political allegiance to the new Republican Party during the middle years of the 1850s . He was a signer of the convention call to establish the Republican Party in Iowa and a delegate from the state to the 1856 Republican National Convention held in Philadelphia . Howell was himself a frequent , albeit unsuccessful , Republican candidate for state and national office in the period
1856 Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
James B. Howell