Born in Sullivan County, Pennsylvania, Warburton moved to Iowa with his parents, who settled in Cherokee in 1868.

He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1889, commencing practice in Tacoma.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1912 to the Sixty-third Congress, and afterwards resumed the practice of law in Tacoma, Washington.

He died in Boston, Massachusetts, December 24, 1926, and was interred in Mountain View Burial Park, Tacoma, Washington.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress