The town of Effingham, New Hampshire, was settled by members of the Leavitt family of Hampton, New Hampshire, led by Captain John Leavitt. From them the settlement first took the name “Leavitt’s Town”. In 1749, the land here was officially granted by Governor Benning Wentworth, and he renamed it “Effingham” for the Howard family, who were Earls of Effingham in England and who were related to the Wentworths by marriage. The town was incorporated in 1778, six years after this house was built. This is the Dearborn-Keay House, a 1772 Colonial home in Effingham, built by Benjamin Dearborn, who was an early settler of the area from Hampton, New Hampshire. The homestead was enlarged by his nephew Asahel Dearborn in the early 1790s, giving the home its present appearance. After later ownership in the Dearborn Family, the property was purchased by Cyrus Keay, who would die in the home in 1894. The property remained in the ownership of the Keay family for many years more.