John Sherburne Sleeper (1794–1878) was an American sailor, ship master, novelist (who used the pseudonym of Hawser Martingale), journalist and politician.
Sleeper spent 22 years in the merchant marine service shipping out of the port of Boston as a sailor, officer and shipmaster.
[2] later The Boston Journal Sleeper purchased The Lowell Daily Journal on May 15, 1833 and ran the paper in partnership with H. Hastings Weld, however the partnership lasted only a few months resulting in financial distress for Mr. Weld and Sleeper's moving on to work for The Boston Mercantile Journal.
Sleeper was a contestant for the third congressional district of Massachusetts for the election held on November 4, 1862.
[13] Sleeper was a member of the First Congregational Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts.