 He was principal of the Haverhill Academy while studying law under his father in Ludlow, and with William Upham in Montpelier.After completing his legal education with a year at Harvard Law School, in 1838 Washburn was admitted to the bar, and he began practicing law in Ludlow in January 1839.Active in politics as a Whig, Washburn was one of the secretaries of a Windsor County convention organized to support William Henry Harrison in the 1840 presidential election.