They moved to Dayton, Ohio when John was a boy, and he decided to make his own way at age 12.

In 1842, Colonel Medary received a letter from Democrats in Tiffin, Ohio, asking him to recommend a young man to edit a Democratic paper in their city, and Medary recommended Breslin.

Breslin published the first edition of the Seneca Advertiser May 6, 1842, and he continued with the paper until 1854.

[3] While Breslin was Treasurer in Columbus, he met and married Anna C. Borland of Lancaster, Ohio.

In June, 1857, Gibson was forced to resign, when it became public that Breslin had left the Treasury several hundred thousand dollars short at the end of his term.