(1751-1829) began a practice of medicine in 1772 in New Hampshire. Later he was inspired to join the fight for independence from Britain, and took part in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
In the late 1700’s Dearborn (also spelled Dearbourn) was an early settler of the town of Monmouth, suggesting the name after the Battle of Monmouth during the Revolutionary War. According to George Varney,
At the close of the Revolutionary War, General Dearborn became proprietor of 5,225 acres of land in the township, upon which he erected farm buildings and mills, residing constantly on his property for several years, and spending a portion of his time here for the remainder of his life.
He was a representative to the Massachusetts General Court from Pittston in 1799, and a of that town when, as a colonel, he joined Benedict Arnold’s expedition to Quebec.
According to the Dictionary of American Biography,
In June 1783 he received his discharge from the army and settled in Kennebec County, Me., then a district of Massachusetts. He became a brigadier-general and later a major-general of militia, and in 1790 was appointed United States marshal for the District of Maine. He represented this district of Massachusetts as a Republican in the Third and Fourth Congresses (1793-97) but was not prominent there. When Jefferson became president, Dearborn was appointed secretary of war, and in this position he served through Jefferson’s eight years of office [1801-1809].
In 1808 he came to Davis Island and gave building directions for the development of Fort Edgecomb. During the War of 1812, now General Henry Dearborn was made commander-in-chief of U.S. forces stationed along the northern frontier from Lake Champlain to Lake Michigan. After some major military errors, Dearborn was dishonorably discharged from the army on June 15, 1815. Later he was appointed by President James Monroe as minister to Portugal, where he served for two years before retiring to Roxbury, Massachusetts.
The short-lived town of Dearborn was apparently named for him.
Additional resources
“Henry Dearborn.” Dictionary of American Biography. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York, 1930. pp. 174-176. http://www.hampton.lib.nh.us/hampton/biog/henrydearborn1.htm
Varney, George J. A Gazetteer of the State of Maine. 1886. pp. 368-369, 449.