Weaver traveled around southern Iowa in 1858 , giving speeches on behalf of his new party 's candidates . That summer , he married Clarrisa ( Clara ) Vinson , a schoolteacher from nearby Keosauqua , Iowa , whom he had courted since he returned from Cincinnati . The marriage lasted until Weaver 's death in 1912 and the couple had eight children . After the wedding , Weaver started a law firm with Hosea Horn and continued his involvement in Republican politics . He gave several speeches on behalf of Samuel J. Kirkwood for governor in 1859 in a campaign that focused heavily on the slavery debate ; although the Republicans lost Weaver 's Davis County , Kirkwood narrowly won the election . The next year , Weaver served as a delegate to the state convention and , although not a national delegate , traveled with the Iowa delegation to the 1860 Republican National Convention , where Abraham Lincoln was nominated . Lincoln carried Iowa and won the election , but Southern states responded to the Republican victory by seceding from the Union . By April 1861 , the American Civil War had begun
1860 Republican National Convention
1860 Republican National Convention
James B. Weaver