Building the Hewn Timber Cabins: Ruska Gregg

Ruska Gregg - Wood Craftsman

Ruska Gregg was born about 1840 on a farm on Jefferies Creek. He was an older brother of Alex Gregg, Archie Waiters's grandfather. After emancipation, the brothers moved to the center of Mars Bluff. Ruska Gregg’s home was just north of the present site of Francis Marion University. There, for fifty years, he worked full time making useful things out of wood--horse troughs, shingles, tool handles, swings, baskets--anything that was needed. While other items in this collection might have been made by Gregg, the white-oak basket is the only item that Archie Waiters could positively identify as having been made by Gregg. Gregg probably made his own glut.