Glossbrenner was born in
Hagerstown, Maryland. He learned the art of printing, and became publisher of the
Western Telegraph in
Hamilton, Ohio, in 1827 and 1828. He moved to
York, Pennsylvania, in 1829. He established the
York County Farmer in 1831, and became a partner in the
York Gazette in 1835, and continued his connection with that paper until 1860. He served as clerk in the
Pennsylvania State House of Representatives in 1836. He was
Clerk of the United States House of Representatives during the
Twenty-eighth and
Twenty-ninth Congresses, and in the
United States Department of State at Washington, D.C., in 1848 and 1849. He was
Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives from 1850 to 1860. He served as private secretary to President
James Buchanan in 1860 and 1861. He established the
Philadelphia Age in 1862, although residing in York, Pennsylvania. Glossbrenner was elected as a Democrat to the
Thirty-ninth and
Fortieth Congresses. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in
1868. Following his political career he engaged in banking in York in 1872. He moved to
Philadelphia in 1880, and was employed by the
Pennsylvania Railroad until his death in Philadelphia in 1889, aged 78. He was interred in Prospect Hill Cemetery in
York, Pennsylvania. ==Sources==