Harrison County, West Virginia Biography of Peter Hansen KOBLEGARD ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Ann Schwirian, , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 285 PETER HANSEN KOBLEGARD came to Clarksburg nearly forty years ago, and during his youth and early manhood was associated with his cousin, John Koblegard. Out of that association and experience he eventually established himself in the wholesale business, and is still the active head of the Koblegard Company, leading dry goods merchants. He was born of Danish parents in North Schleswig, Germany--now a part of Denmark--July 5, 1871, one of the four sons and one daughter of Andreas and Anna Maria (Hansen) Koblegard. His father, who was a farmer and fisherman lived at Wilstrup in Germany, where Peter H. Koblegard spent the first thirteen years of his life. About that time his cousin, John Koblegard, who had established himself in a business way at Clarksburg about 1869, came to Denmark on a visit, and when he returned to America Peter Koblegard accompanied him and thus began his connection with the City of Clarksburg. Peter H. Koblegard arrived in America with a common-school education. He supplemented this with two terms of three months each in the public schools of Clarksburg, and in addition was making rapid progress in the English language and in the knowledge of American affairs by his practical work. For three years after coming to Clarksburg he was employed by Ruhl, Koblegard & Company, wholesale grocers and produce, worked two more years for the same firm at Weston, and then for eight years was on the road as a traveling salesman for the house, with headquarters at Clarksburg, Weston and Buckhannon. While on the road he acquired a financial interest in the retail grocery store at Buckhannon, and at the time of his marriage in 1896 left the road and established his home at Buckhannon, took an active part in the management of the business. Returning to Clarksburg in 1898 Mr. Koblegard organized the Koblegard Company, wholesale dry goods and notions. This is a successful business with now nearly a quarter of a century of existence. Mr. Koblegard had the general management from the beginning and is now president of the company. The business is held in one of the substantial structures in the wholesale district of Clarksburg, the building having been erected in 1901. In the success of the Koblegard Company, Mr. Koblegard has found his chief satisfaction in a business way, though in the meantime he has acquired other business and financial interests. Clarksburg has always been able to count upon him as a public-spirited and reliable citizen when some cause needed advancement. As soon as he reached his majority he was naturalized as an American citizen, and in politics is a republican, but votes an independent ticket when occasion demands. During the period of the World war he was chairman of the Y.M.C.A. drive in Harrison County, when $31,000 were raised for that purpose, and he was also chairman of the United War Work campaign when $108,000 was raised in the county. In this campaign he had charge of the division composing Harrison, Doddridge and Ritchie Counties. Mr. Koblegard has been a director of the Clarksburg Chamber of Commerce since its organization, is a member of the Rotary Club, and for many years has been active in the First Presbyterian Church, being chairman of the Men's Department. The distinction which doubtless affords him the greatest measure of satisfaction is due to his interest in Sunday School work and as president of the McClelland Bible Class, a class named in honor of a late pastor of the church, Rev. Henry T. McClelland. The class was organized April 25, 1915, and such has been the effectiveness and work of the organization that it is known in Sunday School circles from coast to coast. This class in a competition against twenty-seven other Bible classes in the United States, won first place in the international "four square contest," in 1920. Mr. Koblegard for several years has been Chairman of the Business Committee of the West Virginia Sunday School Association. He was an organizer and the first president of the Clarksburg Council of Boy Scouts, and continued to act as president for three years until other business interests obliged him to resign. In 1896 Mr. Koblegard married Miss Marian Rebecca Hurst. Her father, Col. John L. Hurst, of Buckhannon, was a soldier and officer under General Custer. The only son of Mr. and Mrs. Koblegard is Hurst Hansen Koblegard, who while a student in Princeton University volunteered in the Naval Aviation Corps. He is now vice president and general manager of the National Mold & Machine Works of Clarksburg.