Active in politics as a Democrat , Cooper was a delegate to The 1860 Democratic National Convention in Charleston , South Carolina , and the 1876 Democratic National Convention in St. Louis . With Hewitt , Samuel J. Tilden and others , Cooper was recognized as a leader of the Swallowtails , named for the Swallowtail coat . The Swallowtails were prominent Democratic businessmen and professionals who opposed the Tammany Hall Democratic organization and attempted to introduce government reforms and end corruption . Cooper served as a member of the Committee of Seventy , which investigated and prosecuted Tammany Hall corruption . In 1875 , Tilden was Governor of New York , and named Cooper to a commission which proposed anti-corruption reforms for inclusion in the New York Constitution
1876 Democratic National Convention
1876 Democratic National Convention
Edward Cooper (mayor)