tober, 1651, three commissioners were appointed to proceed to
Kittery to convey the warning of Massachusetts "against any further
proceeding by virtue of their combination or any other interest
whatsoever."[35] Godfrey declined to submit, and in behalf of the
general court of the colony addressed a letter, December 5, 1651, to
the Council of State of Great Britain praying a confirmation of the
government which the settlers had erected. Cleves, at the head of the
Rigby colony, made common cause with Godfrey and carried the petition
to England, but he met with no success. The death of Rigby rendered
Cleves's influence of no avail against the Massachusetts agent, Edward
Winslow, who showed that Cleves's mission had originated among
American royalists.[36]

This opposition, in fact, served only to hasten the action of
Massachusetts. In May, 1652, surveyors were appointed by the general
court who traced the stream of the Merrimac as far north as the
parallel of 43 deg. 40' 12".[37] Then, despite the protests of Godfrey,
commissioners were again sent to Kittery, where they opened a court,
November 15, and shortly after received the submission of the
inhabitants.[38] They next proceeded to Gorgeana, where the like
result followed, Governor Godfrey reluctantly submitting with the
rest. Gorgeana was made a town under the Massachusetts jurisdiction,
by the name of York, and all the country claimed by Massachusetts
beyond the Piscataqua was made into a county of the same name.[39]

Next year, 1653, commissioners were sent to Welles, the remaining town
in the Gorges jurisdiction, to summon to obedience the inhabitants
there and at Saco and Cape Porpoise, in the Lygonian patent, and the
conditions made resistance unlikely. Disregarding the Rigby
claims,[40] the settlers in southern Maine accepted the overture of
the Massachusetts commissioners. Accordingly, Welles, Saco, and Cape
Porpoise followed the example of Kittery and Gorgeana, and came under
the government of Massachusetts.

The inhabitants north of Saco about Casco Bay remained independent for
several years after. Cleves and other leading inhabitants would not
submit, and they tried to secure the interference of Cromwell. When
they failed in this attempt, the people of Casco Bay, in 1658,
recognized the authority of Massachusetts. It was at this time that
the plantations at Black Point, at Spurwink, and Blue Point were
united and received the name of Scarboro and those at