Henry Dana Washburn (1832–71), born in Windsor, Vermont, grew up in Ohio where his family moved to the same year of his birth. It was in Wayne County, Ohio, that Washburn spent nearly half of his brief life. At the age of 13, he became a tanner’s apprentice. Disliking the profession, he returned to school, and not simply to learn, but to teach. As a school teacher, he met his future wife, Serena Nebeker, at a spelling bee. The two would marry in December of 1854, but not until after Washburn had attended Ohio’s Oberlin College, and then earned a law degree at the relatively new New York State and National Law School in Poughkeepsie.
Washburn opened a law practice in Newport, Indiana, and he and Serena made their home there. Over the next six years, the couple had four children. During this time, Washburn was both a lawyer and an auditor for Vermillion County. When the Civil War began in 1861, he formed a company of volunteers in the city of Terre Haute, about 30 miles south of Newport. Washburn’s leadership qualities were apparent as the company elected him as their captain.
