Rougely retires old world craft handed
down from his father

Mass production is certainly a blessing in many areas.  But with it has come a serious decline in actual hand-crafted items.

Panola County is about to lose the opportunity of owning one hand-crafted item indigenous to our area.  Robert Rougely of Deadwood has announced his retirement from the basket weaving business.  Rougely, now 84, has been creating baskets with his own hands since 1930.

Rougely's father, who made crossties for a living in the early part of the century, also made the large cotton baskets part-time.

"Old folks will know what those are, added Rougely's wife of 65 years, the former Ella B. Williams.  "They were the great big ones we dumped our sacks into when we were picking cotton."

Rougely, who had watched his dad plying the craft most of his early life, took up basket making himself at the tender age of 14.

At first he only fashioned the same large baskets, but he was soon designing all kinds and sizes.  He made baskets to hold laundry, trash, bread, and picnics, to name just a few uses.

As he became known in the area for the quality of his baskets, Rougely received the attention of a couple of area television stations that broadcast feature stories about him and his craft.  At that point, his business took off, with lots of special orders coming in from all over.  He had wholesalers from as far away as Tennessee, California, and Florida buy his baskets for resale.

Rougely also made many bottoms and backs for chairs.

When Rougely created a basket, he did from the ground up.  He actually tramped through the woods and found the perfect tree.  He only used small white oaks, which he would peel and then split with his pocketknife.

Though he had crafted more baskets that he can remember, his collection has dwindled to only three.  But, just like all others, each of the remaining three baskets are signed and dated on the bottom.

Rougely, who retired because of his age and because he has difficulty sitting for long periods of time, said the tedious work involved in making baskets is hard on his eyes.  He added, "Mostly, it's just too hot to go out in the woods and find good trees. They have to be small and straight and sometimes take a lot of time looking to find."

Mrs. Rougely laughed, "When the weather gets better, he'll be back out there.

Rougely is definitely concerned that his craft will die with his retirement.  His son has learned the art of basket weaving, but doesn't practice the dying art with the same enthusiasm as his father.

When asked about the possibility of teaching others how to weave baskets, Rougely graciously agreed he would be interested.

Although he has no specific plans right now for leading a class of novice weavers, he added, "if we can find the right wood, I would be happy to teach anyone who wants to learn."

Hats Off! to Kathy Waldrop and The Panola Watchman for this story. (2001)