Learn about Marengo’s roots at two open houses

Submitted by McHenry County Historical Society

Between 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5, the McHenry County Historical Society and members of the Wilson/Weyland Family of Marengo will host a free open house at two close-by historical sites.

Both sites, the 1867 limestone Pringle one-room school house and the pre-Civil War “Stewart’s Scottish Cemetery,” are north of Marengo on River Road.

Pringle School, owned by the historical society, is about ¼ of a mile west of Route 23, while the cemetery is on the Ted Wilson farm at 20916 River Road, just east of Route 23. Visitors to both sites should wear comfortable walking shoes.

During the 1840s, the land north of today’s Marengo was settled by a number of pioneering families from Scotland. Many of these settlers came by way of Canada, traveled to Jo Daviess County to work in the lead mines, then reversed migration to the Marengo area.

They established their farms along the southern edge of the hardwood forests north of the Kishwaukee River and, in time, founded the Marengo Presbyterian Church.

For many years names like Smith, Stewart, Redpath, Purves, Wilson and Pringle were common in the area. Remnants of these Scottish pioneers and their contributions to McHenry County history are found along River Road in the form of the old limestone school called Pringle and the Scottish cemetery, beautifully restored and maintained by members of the Ted Wilson family.

The historical society has owned Pringle School since 2002 and volunteers have undertaken its restoration and interpretation since then. Once a year the school is open to the public to show what progress has been made.

Visitors to the open house are often treated to accounts by individuals who attended school there and have stories to tell. Those coming to the open house should park on the lawn in front of the school and not on River Road.

Those visiting the Scottish Cemetery will be parking on the Wilson property then taking a short hike up through the wooded path to the pine shaded old burying ground. The Wilson/Weyland families will have information on those buried there. These two sites are open free to the public.

For directions and details, contact the McHenry County Historical Society at info@mchsonline.org or call (815) 923-2267. The society’s museum also will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. There is an admission fee for nonmembers of the historical society to visit the museum, but maps to the other two sites are free and may be picked up at the door.