He attended school until the age of 13 when he was forced to leave because of the illness of his father.

After high school, Galbreath attended Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, from which he graduated with a Master of Arts in 1883.

[8] Upon graduation from Mount Union, Galbreath accepted the position of superintendent of the Wilmot, Ohio, school system and served there from 1883 to 1885,[4][5][7] leaving to become the superintendent of the East Palestine City School District where he served for eight years.

A. Ross Read, delegate from Akron, nominated Galbreath for the post.

In the nomination, Read cited Galbreath's experience as state librarian and his familiarity with legislative procedure as well as his writings.

The role of the secretary included keeping the records and publishing the proceedings of the convention.