Washburn was a deaf mute from the age of three. He studied at the Faribault School, at Galaudet College, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later he studied at the Art Students League with Mowbray and Beckwith. In 1897 he went to Europe with Chase, and then, continuing on in Europe, served as an apprentice pupil to Sorolla in Spain and later to Besnard whom he assisted in the painting of murals in chapels in Normandy. He exhibited in the Paris Salons from 1896-1904.
Washburn was in Newchwange, Manchuria, when the Russian- Japanese War broke out, and became a war correspondent for the Chicago Daily News (1904-1905). He also worked as war correspondent during the Madero revolution in Mexico (1910-12). In the 1920s he visited the Marquesas Islands in the South Pacific where he collected the eggs of rare birds for the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Santa Barbara, California. By 1940 he was dividing his time equally between the Canary Islands and Lakewood, New Jersey. In 1956 he moved from Brunswick, Georgia to Livermore Falls, Maine.
The subjects of Washburn's prints reflect his travels and range from architectural subjects to character studies. An exhibition of his drypoints was held at the DeYoung Museum.
Washburn was nominated to the NAD by J.T. Arms. He was married to Margaret Cowles.
