Editing York County, Maine (section)

===Absorption by Massachusetts===
In the 1650s the nearby [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] asserted territorial claims over what is now southern Maine, and by 1658 had completely absorbed what is now southwestern Maine into [[York County, Massachusetts]].

The first known and recorded offer for a purchase of land in York County is in 1668, when Francis Small traded goods with the [[Newichewannock]] tribe of this area. Their Chief Wesumbe, also known as Captain Sandy, was friendly with Small and warned him of a plot against his life. A group of renegade tribesmen planned on murdering Small instead of paying him with the furs that were owed to him. Small escaped after watching his house in what is now Cornish, Maine, burn to the ground. Small returned and rebuilt. The Chief made up the loss by selling Small all the lands bounded by the Great and Little Ossipee Rivers, the Saco River, and the New Hampshire border. Known now as the five Ossipee towns, the tract included all of Limington, Limerick, Cornish (formerly named Francisborough), Newfield and Parsonsfield.

The large size of the county led to its division in 1760, with [[Cumberland County, Maine|Cumberland]] and [[Lincoln County, Maine|Lincoln]] counties carved out of its eastern portions. When Massachusetts adopted its state government in 1780, it created the [[District of Maine]] to manage its eastern territories. In 1805 the northern portion of York County was separated to form part of [[Oxford County, Maine|Oxford County]]. When Maine achieved statehood in 1820 all of the counties of the District of Maine became [[List of counties in Maine|counties of Maine]].