Charles Ames Washburn (1822–1889), also known as C. A. Washburn, was born in Livermore, Maine. He was the son of Israel Washburn Sr.; nephew of Reuel Washburn; brother of Israel, Jr., Elihu Benjamin, Cadwallader Colden and William Drew. He went to California for the 1849 Gold Rush.
In 1854 in San Francisco, Washburn and Benjamin Franklin Washington fought a duel with rifles at forty paces. Washburn was severely wounded by the second shot fired at him. Neither died.
Washburn was later Presidential Elector for California, 1860; U.S. Diplomatic Commissioner to Paraguay, 1861–63; U.S. Minister to Paraguay, 1863–68; novelist; and inventor of an early typewriter.