Wilmot was President Judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas for the Thirteenth Judicial District from 1851 to 1861 . He took a leading part in the founding of the Republican Party in 1854 . He was Chairman of the Republican Party platform committee , was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention and worked vigorously for the first Republican presidential candidate , John C. Fremont , in the 1856 election . He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania in 1857 , losing to William F. Packer
1856 Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
David Wilmot