In the early 1840s , Wakeman became active in politics as a Whig , and he became a colleague of Thurlow Weed , William H. Seward , and Henry Jarvis Raymond , the leaders of the party in New York state . He was a member of the New York State Assembly ( New York Co. , 4th D. ) in 1850 and 1851 . From 1854 to 1856 , he was a member of the city 's Board of Aldermen . Wakeman was elected as a Whig to the 34th Congress ( March 4 , 1855 – March 3 , 1857 ) . With the collapse of the Whig Party in the mid 1850s , Wakeman was one of the organizers of the new Republican Party . He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for reelection in 1856 to the 35th Congress and served as delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
1856 Republican National Convention
Abram Wakeman