Copied from Beneath Ben Lomond’s Peak: A History of Weber County, 1824-1900, pg 317-318
GLOVES AND TROUSERS
One of the early definite needs of any frontier community is leather. The Weber County pioneers found that the outdoor life thy were living used a great deal of leather in equipment and clothing. Since they were so far from the base of supplies, it was necessary that they learn, and learn quickly, to replace that which was worn out and to provide new articles of clothing.
Some of the pioneers, arriving barefoot, constructed moccasins from catskins. Later they wore homemade boots and shoes that laced above the ankles, manufactured from hides tanned locally. They made gloves, trousers, and moccasins of sheep, elk, and buckskin, while shoes, harnesses, saddles, and many other articles were constructed of leather.
A number of families had a cobbler’s kit or bag for mending the family footwear. Some had carried these across the plains while others had crude homemade tools.
At the doorstep of nearly every home was a “boot jack,” composed of hard wood, which was used in pulling off the boots. Many of these were used in later years to remove rubbers and galoshes. There is a jack in Pioneer Hall which was used for many years by the George M. Kerr family.
An Indian woman taught John Gibson how to tan sheepskin from which he made gloves and moccasins. Susan Easter Russell sewed gloves out of buckskin bought from the Indians and colored them with sagebrush dye. She trimmed them with colored beads in pretty designs, as did the Indians. She also made baby shoes from the soft pieces of leather found in the front of the high boots that the pioneer men wore. Emma Blake Gale came to Ogden in 1852. She also made fancy gloves and trousers from buckskin. Sarah Jane Atwood Wade sewed all kinds of fine kid and buckskin gloves. Buckskin pants for men were made by Ada Hicks Taylor, and “foxed,” i.e. fringe put on the sides and a patch on the seat and knees, by May Hicks Marlow. These two women also worked together in the production of gloves and purses from buckskin. Mrs. Rhoda Allen remarked: “I helped mother make buckskin gloves to get her first sewing machine. My brother Daniel killed the deer, dressed it, and tanned the hides. We sold the gloves for $2.50 and $5.00 a pair.”
Previous to 1852, Almira M. Jordon Benson made buckskin gloves and men’s clothes. She tanned the buckskins, beaded the gloves, and did the “foxing” on the men’s trousers herself. Melissa Hall also constructed gloves from sheep and deer skin. The Indians taught her to rub the skin with rocks to soften it, but neither she nor the other pioneers could do as well as they. Her gloves, however, were sewed with sinew, decorated with hand stitching, and sold for $3.00 to $5.00 a pair. Very fancy gloves were made by Albertine Carstensen Stephens. They were composed of buckskin with a gauntlet and silk flowers worked by hand and beaver fur around the top. On some of them she placed beautiful designs of beads. Her husband, David H., worked with her. He did the tanning of the buckskin. They operated a curio store on 25th Street, between Grant and Lincoln avenues, called “Parrey’s Curio Store.” At that store they sold their homemade gloves for $10.00 to $20.00 a pair.