The Randolph Society Foundation Board is pleased to announce that Don and Margret Wiley, historical preservationists and educators, will be inducted into the 2025 class of honorees.
Margret Baue Wiley was born at her parents’ farmhouse in rural Sparta in 1927. Her family had deep roots in Randolph County, and that family history was fascinating to Margret from an early age. With her younger brothers, she attended the Goddard School, a one-room schoolhouse located about a mile away from the family farm. She developed a love for learning, as well as a passion for the traditional skills and crafts that she picked up while growing up on the farm. She and her brothers often played with children who lived on nearby farms, including the boys of the Wiley family.
One of those neighbor boys, Donald Wiley, was born in Jacksonville, Illinois, in 1934. With his parents and brothers, including his twin, Ronald, Don moved often while his father worked as a traveling salesman. Eventually, though, the Wileys moved back to his father’s native Sparta, settling just a quarter mile from the Baue farm. Both the Baue children and the Wiley twins were active members of the local 4-H Club, and all of them attended Sparta Township High School as they grew into teenagers.
After graduation, Margret spent a term studying at SIU Carbondale before entering the working world. She worked at the Brown Shoe Company’s manufacturing facility in Evansville before taking an office job at the Mallinckrodt Chemical Company in St. Louis. Meanwhile, Don also graduated from Sparta High and attended a few classes in Carbondale before starting work as a carpenter.
Eventually, Don and Margret’s friendship developed into romance. They were married at Trinity United Presbyterian Church in Sparta, where both families worshiped, on January 22, 1955. Soon after, Don was drafted into the army, and the young couple moved first to Texas and then to Washington, D.C. There, Don had an office job at the Pentagon, and as both he and Margret were history lovers, they relished the chance to take in the monuments and museums during their time in the nation’s capital.
In 1958, the couple settled down in a home south of Sparta, where they raised their children, Kerry and Lee Ann. Don started his own carpentry business, taking on handyman work and building and repairing furniture. Margret joined the local Home Extension organization and served as an election judge in Sparta. Both of them also lent their talents to numerous local clubs and societies, including the Randolph County Historical Society.
Margret loved reading and researching about history, and Don loved experiencing the past through reenactments. Together, they helped to establish an antique rifle shooting club, a pursuit that would become the cornerstone of the Rendezvous held annually at Fort de Chartres. They were very involved in the annual Corn Fest fundraiser at the nearby Charter Oak School House, providing historical demonstrations like broom making and candle dipping.
In 1976, Don organized a group to retrace the path traveled by George Rogers Clark when he captured forts in both Kaskaskia and Vincennes during the Revolutionary War. He and his fellow Long Knives members trekked on foot as they followed Clark’s path on the 185-mile journey, which was timed to coordinate with the national bicentennial celebrations. Margret and Kerry provided crucial support during the journey, which took more than a week.
The Clark reenactment trip was emblematic of Don and Margret’s love for history and their desire to share it with generations to come. Both Margret and Don continued to be active members of their community until their passings in 2004 and 2011. Their efforts continue to echo through the county’s historical landscape today.
Click here to read a more detailed biography of Don and Margret Wiley.
The Randolph Society 