Washington was born in Newark, New Jersey on January 15, 1867.^[1] He attended Yale University, graduating in 1886, and took his masters there two years later.^[1] He received his Ph.D. at the University of Leipzig in 1893.^[1] He also studied at the American School for Classical Studies in Athens, Greece.^[2] His research included trips to Greece, Asia Minor, Italy, Spain, Brazil and the Hawaiian islands.^[1] By 1920 he was a consulting mining geologist of high reputation.^[2]

His works include:^[2]

• Chemical Analyses of Igneous Rocks (1903)
• Manual of the Chemical Analysis of Rocks (1904; 2d ed., 1910)
• The Roman Cogmatic Region (1907)

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). "Washington, Henry Stephens" . Encyclopedia Americana. p. 779.)

• Biographical Memoir, National Academy of Sciences