The court records for the 16921 witchcraft trials are usually taken literally which has led researchers to say Hopestill's daughter Martha was involved and that he had two other daughters named Hannah and Johannah. Based on the records in general and looking at the chronolgy of events, it's apparent that only Mary (Lovett) Tyler and her daughter Johannah, also called Hannah, were involved.
     The accused were examined, followed by an indictment, if warranted, and possibly confessions. Then they went to trial and were either acquitted or executed. At least some of the families of those jailed petitioned to have them released on condition of posting a bond (today's "bail"). Going by the names used in the records, Johanna, who is often referred to as a single woman, was examined on 16 September 1692, confessed on the same day and indicted in December. Hopestill Tyler, on behalf of his unnamed wife and daughter (not daughters), was one of those who petitioned to have relatives released from poor conditions in jail and into the hands of their familes. Hopestill Tyler and his brother-in-law John Bridges bonded themselves to have Johannah and Martha moved out of jail. Hannah "Tiler" (with Mary) recanted her confession and was brought to trial on 5 January 1692/93. Hannah was acquitted. There is no overlap in records for Johannah and Hannah.
     "Goodwife" Tyler was examined by Rev. Cotton Mather, document not dated. This examination by Mather appears to have been unique, and the reason for it isn't given. The title of this record in the court papers calls her "Martha Tyler." Martha (with Johanna), was examined and confessed on 16 September 1692. With Hannah, Mary ("Tiler") recanted her confession on 3 January 1692/93. Mary, called the wife of Hopestill, had her trial on 7 January 1692/93 and was acquitted. Neither Mary nor Martha are called a single woman.
     Martha Sprague, stepdaughter of Hopestill's brother Moses Tyler, 2 was also involved in the witchcraft cases. She accused a number of people, along with three others. She's called Martha Sprague (variously spelled) or Martha Sprague alias Tyler or alias Martha Tyler. They appear seven times as witnesses and accusers either in pairs or all three together, depending on the document and case.3 The others were Rose Foster and Abigail Martin. William Barker was one of the accused, and in this case all three accused him. A 13 January 1692/93 document shows that in Abigail Martin's complaint against him, the witnesses were "Matha Tyler" and Rose Foster. Considering how closely Sprague, Foster and Martin were allied in these cases, this surely refers to Martha Sprague as well.
     The documents in the witchcraft collection aren't all written by the same person. A "Summary of Examinations" of a group of people on 17 September 1692 includes Martha Tyler in the title and in the body of the transcribed text. The actual document has her name spelled Martha, but the last "a" is overwritten with a "y," making her Marthy. In a different hand (this one identifiable as Jonathan Elarson's) records the bond posted, mentioned above, and says the two people petitioned to be released were Martha and "Abigaile," with Abigaile crossed out and "Johanna" written above. In another document, Elarson referred to Mary Barker as Mary Tyler but corrected himself with a cross-out.
     The most obvious misnaming of Mary is in the title of Mather's examination. Although the title given to the document calls her Martha Tyler, Mather's description of the interview only calls her Goodwife Tyler. There isn't an image of the original record as there is with others in the online collection because it's a supplement from a different source. The titles of the other documents in the collection are taken from the back side of the documents themselves. As with Johannah/Hannah, there are no overlap of records for Mary and Martha. If they were mother and daughter, the sequence of events that names them becomes too disjointed to be plausible. The most telling example is when Hopestill petitioned for the release of his wife and daugher. It's reasonable to think that when he posted bail, it was for his wife Mary and daughter Johanna/Hannah. If it was for two of his daughters, we lose the thread of logic. Daughter becomes daughters and there is no evidence of him posting bail for his wife.
     Mary (Lovett) Tyler occasionally being referred to as Martha is odd. It's very unlikely the men recording the proceedings at the Essex County Quarterly Court knew the Tyler family personally, so one instance of misnaming may have led to others without causing any notice. Several other things might give a little help understanding the confusion. Changing "Martha" to "Marthy" was deliberate. "Marthy" is a now obsolete nickname or way of pronouncing Martha, and it puts "Marthy" closer to "Mary" phonetically. Also, Martha Sprague being referred to as Martha Tyler could have led some of the recorders to be confused with all of the names of the accused, accusers and family members involved to keep track of in these trials.

1. "The Salem Witchcraft Papers," https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/category/swp.html.
2. Rose Foster confessed to witchcraft against Mary Bridges, and the witnesses were Martha "Sprague Alle Tyler" and Rose Foster herself. Martha Sprague and Rose Foster accused Mary Bridges of witchcraft against them. Abigail, Rose and Martha ("Sprague") accused members of the Barker and Marstone families of the same. Rose and Martha ("Sprage alias Tyler") were witnesses when Alice Booth made an accusation. Members of the Jackson family were accused of bewitching Martha "Sprag" and Rose. Sarah Hawks confessed that she bewitched Rose and Martha "Sprauge." Sarah Bridges was accused of afflicting "Martha Sprague alias Tyler." "Martha Sprague alias Tyler" witnessed an accusation against Susannah Post for afflicing Rose. Post was also brought to court for afflicting "Martha Sprague alias Martha Tyler." "Matha Tyler" and Rose Foster were witnesses when Abigail Marton accused William Barker.
3. Moses Tyler married Sarah (Hasey) Sprague, widow of Phineas Sprague.