Tilley's first task in his new role was to negotiate a deed of cession with the local powers to ensure a formal and peaceful transfer of control to the United States. With the partitioning of Samoa, two regional governments remained on Tutuila which had been subordinated to a government on the western, German-controlled island of Upolu. Both of these governments were favorable toward the cession. The inhabitants of the island of Taʻu and the volcanic doublet of Ofu-Olosega (together known as Manu'a) to the east were politically separate from Tutuila. On March 12, 1900, Tilley traveled to Taʻu to meet with the local king Tui Manuʻa Elisala. Ultimately, the king agreed to cede some sovereignty to the United States, but refused to consider full cession. The deed of cession was signed on April 17, 1900 and listed Manu'a as part of the United States' new territory, but without the signature of its representative. In it, Tilley was named Acting Governor; the territory did not have an official governor until the title was given to Governor Edmund Beardsley Underwood in 1905. Manu'a did not agree to sign the deed until 1904, after negotiating concessions from the United States.