I'm currently reading a historical book about the Salem Witch Trials...which includes a lot of information about the events of the times, not just the trials, accusers and various accused persons. It is "In the Devil's Snare" by Mary Beth Norton, published 2002 by Vintage books. I'm having trouble concentrating, so it's slow going. But I wanted to add to my knowledge of my 8 times great grandmother, one of the accused.
Following is the post from 2018 which I shared here.
Mary Lovett Tyler
1651–1732
Birth 7 MAR 1651/53 • Braintree, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Death 03 MAR 1732 • Preston City, New London, Connecticut,
Mary Lovett Tyler, Mrs. Hopestill Tyler, was accused of Witchcraft in Andover, Mass. in 1692, along with many other townspeople, men, women and children in other locations in New England.
There are original documents of her accusation...
and a good 4 pages of telling the story of her arrest, imprisonment, trial and acquital.
I'll post them as well as tell a synopsis of the events.
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| NOT Mary Tyler, but a woman accused of being a witch, and those who tried to prosecute her. Some women and men were hanged. |
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| From Pequot Plantation by Radune. |
How is she related to me? She's my eight times great grandmother on my father's mother's family tree, which I call the Ada Swasey Rogers tree...she's way up there with some of the earliest immigrants to Massachusetts colony. I've talked about her husband Here, and her husband's father, Job Tyler, HERE.
The following pages are from North America, Family Histories 1500-2000, author not cited at Ancestry. First is a description of Hopestill Tyler (at bottom of page 25).
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| Top of page is talking about Mary Post's trial for witchcraft, (we are not related to her.) Hopestill Tyler info is at bottom of page |
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| Top of page continuation about Hopestill's early life. Bottom of page 26, the story of Mary Tyler's Confession |
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| Rev. Increase Mather states that Mary lied in her confession to being a witch to stop the verbal persecution she was enduring. |
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| Mary is aquitted of the felony of witchcraft for which she had confessed. Her 3 daughters are also accused, but released when Hopestill pays a bond. According to Nevin's "Witchcraft in 1692" there were 11 Tylers named in list of the accused. There are no more details given of these accusations. I don't find a resource, but I believe she spent several weeks in jail. Then the entire family moves out of state to Connecticut. |
Mary and Hopestill Tyler had 11 children, the last 2 being twins born in 1687. Their children were either at home, or begining their own lives as young adults. Martha Tyler Farnham (their eldest and my ancestor) married right after (or during) the trials June 30, 1693, and I've written about them HERE.
Both Mary and Hopestill adjusted to their new home in Connecticut, where he continued to work as a a blacksmith. They both joined the church there, as well as at least one of their sons. They both lived long lives, she died at age 81, and he was either 84 or 87 (due to differing dates on records.)
The Norton book has not added any specific details to Mary's story...(having looked through it to page 262 where Mary Tyler is mentioned.) I am not going to read the entire book, but will say that the frequent Indian attacks in New England seemed to have a lot to do with the various reports by children of witch attacks. I think Norton is merging these two horrific events in their lives, which sometimes resulted in legal ramifications, and sometimes didn't. And it's very interesting that so little has been said in American history classes about the frequent Indian attacks, which left many a homestead completely ruined as the people were killed.
