A Salem, NH born shoemaker, MELVIN LOWELL, the son of Robert and Hannah (Emerson) Lowell, was 23 years, 6 months old when he signed up with the 15th Regiment, New Hampshire Volunteers, on September 10th, 1862. This was his second enlistment, having previously served in Co. H, 1st New Hampshire Infantry, from April 21st to August 9th, 1861.
   Mustered into Company K as a private on October 16th, 1862, Melvin and company (there were 28 other Salem men in this company) left New Hampshire on the 13th of November for New York, where they encamped for nearly a month before being shipped south to Louisiana. The regiment would be engaged in a dozen battles in the Port Hudson area, from May to July 1863.
   Melvin would become one of many within the regiment to fall ill with disease during his service. When the unit began its trip back home in July 1863, many of the sick did not complete the full journey and were left behind in hospitals along the route north. Melvin did survive the trek, and returned home to Salem in very poor condition. He was unable to attend the mustering out ceremony in Concord on August 13th, '63, and would perish from chronic diarrhea on the 22nd. He was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery, Salem.   
   

Melvin's stone was one of many that the Gilman Sleeper Camp No. 60 has cleaned. Of all of the Civil War veterans buried in this cemetery, this marker is in the most need of repair. His parents' stones are also broken and lie flat nearby.
   The "GAR 1861 - 1865" marker was apparently destroyed by a mower very recently, found broken and bent near his stone.

ISAAC NEWTON CLUFF was born in Salem, New Hampshire on 17 March 1839, a son of Ezekiel and Sally (Hawkins) Cluff. In the 1860 census, he was living with his older brother Benjamin, both of them employed as shoemakers.

23-year old Isaac signed up for nine months with the 15th Infantry, on 11 Sept. 1862, and was mustered in as a private on 16 Oct. 1862.

​The Fifteenth New Hampshire was sent south to Louisiana, where many men in the regiment were overcome with illness. While en route back home, thirty soldiers of the 15th NH were put ashore at Memphis, TN, too sick to continue their voyage north. Isaac would succumb to disease at the Washington General Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, on 2 Aug. 1863. It is not clear where he was buried, but his name (and that of his brother Benjamin, who died in '62) are memorialized on the family stone of their parents in Pine Grove Cemetery, Salem. 

The Gilman E. Sleeper Post, No. 60, Grand Army of the Republic, was granted its charter on the 1st of July 1881. The following Civil War veteran soldiers were listed as the original members in the History of Salem, NH (pg 337), followed by the officer positions in their first election:

Benjamin E Chase, Junior Vice Com.
James A Troy, Senior Vice Com.
Moses D Rowell
Joseph D Bradford
William L Bradford
Thomas D Parish, Quartermaster
Benjamin R Wheeler, Commander
Charles W Grant, Adjutant
J C S. Twitchell, Officer of Day
George C Howard, Surgeon
James J Walch
Isaiah N Webster
David Sloan
Charles C Foster, Officer of Guard
Charles T Maxwell
Issachar O Foster
[Charles O Kelly], Chaplain

They first met in the Union Hall, Troy's Block, in Salem Depot (first and third Sat). They would later meet at the town hall and, at the time of the printing of the History of Salem, NH (1907), they were meeting in the Masonic Hall on the second Saturday of each month. That year, there were 20 members on the books. Since its organization, there had been sixty enrolled members.

The Sleeper Post, No. 60, disbanded prior to the April 1917 (50th) Encampment of the New Hampshire Department of the GAR. 

​Gilbert, Edgar. History of Salem, N.H. Concord, NH: Rumford Printing Co. 1907, pg 337

GILMAN EMERY SLEEPER was born in Kingston, NH on 10 May 1831, the son of David and Abigail (Grant) Sleeper. His mother died in 1836 and his father passed away in 1839, leaving Gilman an orphan just three months shy of his eighth birthday.

As a 19-year old, Gilman enlisted on 6 Oct 1849 in Boston, MA with Co. A, US Engineers, as an engineer at the West Point Military Academy. He was discharged, with a rank of artificer, in Newburgh, NY on 16 Apr 1852. A month prior to his discharge, he had married Sarah Elizabeth Cook of Salem, NH.

He returned to Salem, and to his employment as a shoemaker. He would also start a waltzing school with Kimball Poor of Atkinson.

He enlisted on 27 April 1861 with Company K, First New Hampshire Volunteers, and was commissioned captain on the 30th. Being only raised for three months, he was discharged on 9 Aug '61. Following his mustering out, he quickly recruited Company C of the 4th NH Infantry, and was mustered in as its captain on 18 Sept 1861. The following May, he was promoted to Lieut. Col. of the regiment. In Nov 1863, due to poor health, he had to resign his position, and returned to Salem, NH. He died there from consumption on 22 Oct 1864.

The Sleeper Lot in Pine Grove Cemetery, Salem, N.H. To the left is the stone of son George Eddie, who died 13 Aug 1864, aged 3 yrs. Wife Sarah Elizabeth (Cook) is on the right; she died 4 Jan 1868.

​The G.A.R. post for Salem, No. 60, was named after Lt. Col. Sleeper in 1881. When the Sons of Union Veterans camp was organized in 2006, they requested the use of the "No. 60" in their name, honoring both the veteran and former Grand Army Post.

Links/Notes:
Hutchinson, John G. Roster, Fourth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers: Photo of Col. Sleeper, pg 65; Bio, pg 78
​Poor, Alfred. Historical and Genealogical Researches and Recorder of Passing Events of Merrimack Valley, Volume 1, pg 108
Rockingham County Probate: File #13517 (father David's probate)
​Rockingham County Deeds: Vol. 336, pg 366 (Gilman and siblings sell land in Kingston)