Mary a Tyler, Accused Witch

Mary Tyler Born: 31 JAN 1669 at: Worcester Co., Massachusetts

Martha Tyler Born: ABT 1676 at: Massachusetts

Daniel Tyler Born: AFT 1676 at: Massachusetts

John Tyler Born: 19 FEB 1677 at: Massachusetts

Hannah Tyler Born: AFT 1677 at: Massachusetts

JoAnna Tyler Born: 21 NOV 1681 at: Essex Co., Massachusetts

James Tyler Born: 28 DEC 1683 at: Essex Co., Massachusetts

Hopestill Tyler, Jr. Born: ABT OCT 1685 at: Essex Co., Massachusetts

Mehitable Tyler Born: 4 JAN 1687 at: Essex Co., Massachusetts

Abigail Tyler Born: 2 JAN 1688 at: Essex Co., Massachusetts

STORY OF MARY TYLER'S CONFESSION

The following is a digest of the " recantation " obtained from Hopestill Tyler's wife by the Rev. Increase Mather, the same being followed by Bailey's Sketches of Andover, pp. 222 and 223.

" Goodwife Tyler did say, that when she was first apprehended, she had no fears upon her, & did think, that nothing could have made her confess against herself. But, since, she has found to her great grief, that she had wronged the truth & falsely accused herself." When she was being taken from her home in Andover to prison in Salem, her brother-in-law Bridges rode beside her; and, during the memorable ride, told her that she must be a " witch," because the afflicted were raised out of their fits " by her touch." She stoutly denied the accusation, and begged him not to urge her to confess. But, arrived at Salem (shall we not rather say, temporary " Pandemonium"?), she had to combat, not only a stubbornly misguided brother on one side, but also on her other side, " John Emerson "; which latter stoutly took up the cudgel of accusation, on calling her a witch, declaring he could see the Devil before her eyes, whereupon, with his hands, he proceeded to beat him off. In short, her persecutors so harassed her for confession, that she would have "preferred a dungeon," to their presence. Finally, they threatened to leave her; declaring that, in such event, she would be undone body and soul forever. To their reiterations, that she " could not lie by confessing," she retorted, " I shall lie, if I confess; and then, who shall answer unto God for my lie? " Their final resort always was, " You will be hanged, if you do not confess! " In short, they so protracted their unmerciful treatment, that the poor woman began to doubt her very life and reason: whereupon they proceed to have her " agree to say " what they should " suggest." But, in her real " confession" to Rev. Mather, she insisted, " she wronged her conscience in so doing, was guilty of a great sin in belying herself & desired to mourn for it so long as she lived." And the said Mather adds, " Her affliction, sorrow, relenting, grief and mourning, exceeds any pen to describe and express the same."

VERDICT ON MARY TYLER

MARY TYLER wife of Hopestill Tyler of Andover, Blacksmith, being Indicted by the Jurors for or Soveraigne Lord and Lady the King and Queen upon these Oaths. try these Severall Indictments. That is to say; 1st—For that shee the said Mary Tyler wife of Hopestill Tyler of Andover in the County of Essex, Blacksmith, about seaven Years since in the Town of Andover aforesaid wickedly Malitiously and ffeloniously a covenant with the Devill did make and signed the Devills Book, and promised to serve the Devill as long as she lived &c. &c. The Jury went out to agree on their verdict, who returning did then and there in open Court deliver their Verdict. That the said Mary Tyler was Not Guilty of the ffellony by witchcraft for which shee stood Indicted in & by the said Indictments, and each of them. The Court ordered Mary Tyler aforesaid to be discharged paying her ffees.

The Tyler Family and the Salem Witchcraft Trials

In 1692 the Tyler family of Andover found itself both victim and accuser in the witchcraft hysteria centered in Salem Village (now Danvers, Massachusetts - not present day Salem). The web site, WITCHCRAFT IN SALEM VILLAGE, http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft contains on-line the accusations, confessions and other original documents related to the witchcraft trials. This account is taken from those documents.

Two Tyler women were caught in the web of suspicion that swept out of Salem Village and into surrounding towns and villages, until more than 150 persons found themselves accused of witchcraft. The two Tyler women were Mary (Lovett) Tyler, wife of Hopestill Tyler, and Johanna (Hannah) Tyler, Hopestill’s daughter. Hopestill Tyler was the son of immigrant ancestor Job Tyler.

During the Andover scare, Moses Tyler and Joseph Tyler, son and grandson of Job Tyler accused three men and two women of Andover of witchcraft. Not much else is known about their part in the witchcraft hysteria that came to Andover.

WITCHCRAFT IN SALEM VILLAGE gives the following brief account of the start of "The Witchcraft Delusion."

"In early 1692, Rev. [Samuel] Parris’s 9-year-old daughter Elizabeth, 12-year-old niece Abigail Williams, as well as other neighborhood girls began to fall into horrid fits. Their parents tried to discover what was causing their distress, and village doctor William Griggs gave his opinion that the girls were the victims of witchcraft. Put upon to tell who was causing their afflictions, the girls finally accused three village women, and warrants were sworn out for the arrest of Sarah Osburn, Sarah Good and Parris’s slave, Tituba.

"On March 1, 1692, magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin conducted an examination at the Meeting House. Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn were separately examined and as they answered the questions put to them, the "afflicted" girls went into horrific fits. To all present, the girls were obviously victims of these women’s witchcraft. Though the two protested their own innocence, Tituba unraveled a confession of meeting with the devil and stating there were still other witches in the neighborhood. This evidence was sufficient for the magistrates, and the three women were jailed. The girls’ afflictions did not abate, however, and still more villagers became "afflicted."

"Soon more accusations were made, and by the end of March Church members Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse were also arrested, examined and jailed. No longer were just the lowly being accused, but people formerly in good standing in the community. By May, scores of "witches," both men and women, had been examined in Salem Village, and jails were being filled with up to 150 accused persons from many towns including Salem, Topsfield and Andover. Dozens of people under excruciating religious, civil and family pressures found themselves confessing to being witches.

"In May, Governor William Phips called a special court to try the cases of those accused witches who had not confessed. Convening in Salem in June 1692, the court quickly condemned Bridget Bishop to death. During July, August and September 18 people, including Nurse, Good and Cory were hanged. In addition, one man, Giles Cory of Salem Farms, died under torture. At least 5 others including Sarah Osburn died in jail. By the new year the colony was becoming exhausted with the witchcraft frenzy, and learned persons were speaking against the validity of "spectral evidence" being used in court. When the trials resumed, this former evidence was disallowed and proof was insufficient to condemn any other accused. The witch horror was over. Of the 19 people who were executed during this tragic yet heroic period, 12 came from the Salem Village area, dying rather than confessing to what they had not done."

http://jacquesancestry.com/ancestors-histories/l/daniel-lovettjohan...

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Oct 25 2016, 20:36:43 UTC

amily Data Collection - Individual Records

Name: Mary Lovett Spouse: Hopestill Tyler Parents: Daniel Lovett, Joanna Blott Birth Place: Nfk, Braintree, MA Birth Date: 1 Jan 1650 Marriage Date: 10 Jan 1667 Death Place: Preston, CT Death Date: 3 Mar 1731

Source Information: Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection-Individual Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Networks, Inc., 2000.

Family Data Collection - Individual Records

Name: Mary Lovett Spouse: Hopestill Tyler Parents: Daniel Lovett, Johanna Blott Birth Place: Worcester, Mendon, MA Birth Date: 7 Mar 1651 Marriage Place: Mendon, Worcester, MA Marriage Date: 20 Jan 1667 Death Date: 1732

Source Information: Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection-Individual Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Networks, Inc., 2000.

Family Data Collection - Marriages

Name: Mary Lovett Spouse: Hopestill Tyler Marriage Date: 10 Jan 1668 City: Mendon State: MA

Source Information: Edmund West, comp., Family Data Collection-Marriages [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001.

From: The History of the Descendants of Peter Spicer page 560

                                                ALLIED FAMILIES II

                                                            TYLER

He married Mary, the daughter of Daniel and Joanna (Blott) Lovett, Jan. 29 of Feb 17, 1668-9. The marriage is recorded in Medfield and in Mendon, the latter place giving the date as January. She was born the 1st day of the 7th month, 1651, in Braintree, Massachusetts. She died March 3, 1732, in Preston. She, in 1693, was arrested and tried for witchcraft, as were also two of her daughters. By the earnest efforts of friends they were acquitted Jan. 6, 1693. It is possible that this unhappy experience caused Hopestill to remove to the Connecticut Colony. He sold his lands in Andover, May, 1697, and made his home for the remainder of his days in Preston, Connecticut. He was one of the twelve men who organized the church there in 1698, He was blacksmith for the town, and his house was located in the forest one mile east of the church. This house is still in existence, at least part of it; a portion was burned and rebuilt. He died Jan. 20, 1733-4. (Joanna Blott was a daughter of Robert Blott.)www.findagrave.com

Birth: Mar. 7, 1653 Mendon Worcester County Massachusetts, USA Death: Mar. 3, 1732 Preston New London County Connecticut, USA Daughter of Daniel Lovett and Joanna Blot. Married Hopestill Tyler 20 Jan. 1668/9 in Mendon, Massachusetts per VR of Mendon. Mother of 11 known children: Mary, Matthew, Martha, John, Daniel, Hannah, Joanna[Johanna], James, Hopestill, Jr., Mehitable and Abigail. Accused of witchcraft in 1693 Mrs. Tyler was Mary Lovett, daughter of Daniel and Joanna (Blot) Lovett of Braintree, Mass. The marriage occurred at Andover January 20, 1668. Their children were: Mary, m. June 30, 1693, John Farnum; Hannah, m. Dec, 1697, Robert Busswell; Daniel, m. May 28, 1700, Anna, dau. of George and Sarah (Allyn) Geer; Martha, m. Apr. 3, 1700, Robert Geer; John, b. Feb. 19, 1678, settled in or near Boston; Joanna, b. Nov. 24, 1681; James, born Dec. 28, 1683, m. (1) Oct. 8, 1705, Hannah Safford, and (2) Sept. 2, 173-, Sarah Juel, resided in North Preston (now Griswold); Hopestill, b. 1684 or 1685, m. Anna Gates, Jan. 25, 1710, remained on the homestead in Preston; and Abigail, b. about 1687, m. Daniel Fitch. John Tyler, son of the above James, rendered conspicuous service in the Revolution and became a brigadier-general. ~The Bi-centennial Celebration: First Congregational Church of Preston, Connecticut, 1698-1898. Together with Statistics of the Church Taken from the Church Records; Conn Preston First Congregational Church; Richard H. Gidman; The Society, 1900. Discovered and shared by Findagrave volunteer Richard Chicester Family links: Parents: Daniel Lovett (____ - 1692) Johanna Blott Lovett (1620 - 1670) Spouse: Hopestill Tyler (1646 - 1734) Children: Mary Tyler Farnum (1669 - ____) * Martha Tyler Geer (1676 - 1741) * James Tyler (1683 - 1754) * Hopestill Tyler (1685 - 1762) * Abigail Tyler Fitch (1687 - 1771) * Siblings: James Lovett (1648 - 1718) * Mary Lovett Tyler (1653 - 1732) Martha Lovett Fairbanks (1654 - 1749)

Burial: Preston City Cemetery Preston New London County Connecticut, USA

Created by: mommycita Record added: Jun 02, 2012 Find A Grave Memorial# 91205546

GEDCOM Source

@R1050710867@ Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 Dodd, Jordan, Liahona Research, comp. Massachusetts, Marriages, 1633-1850 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.

GEDCOM Source

1,7853::458671

GEDCOM Source

@R1050710867@ Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.

GEDCOM Source

1,2495::17082976