once to take up his teaching duties at Pitea, but took 
priest's orders in September of the same year and was 
presented to the perpetual curacy in his native parish 
in 1666; there he remained till 1690, when he was pro- 
moted to the living of Nordmaling. 1 This P. M. ARC- 
TJEDIUS married a certain ANNA GRUBB, who bore him 
five children, two of them sons, OLAUS and MARTEN. 
The former of these two sons, whose date of birth 
was probably 1670, studied like his father at Abo Uni- 
versity, where he matriculated in 1692. Four years later 
he was ordained at Hernosand and in 1701 he obtained 
the perpetual curacy of Anundsjo. 2 In that year he 
lost his first wife, DOROTHEA DJUPEDIA. Not long after- 
wards he married again, his second wife being HELENA 
SIDENIA, a daughter of PETRUS SIDENIUS, of Stockholm, a 
Master of Philosophy and a Court Chaplain. There 
were five children of this marriage, of whom PETER, the 
future scientist, was the oldest but one. The date of 
his birth, according to the Anundsjo Parish Register, 
was February 27 (O. S.) or March 10 (N. S.). The fam- 
ily continued to reside at Anundsjo for upwards of 
ten years, but in 1716 a document was addressed to the 
Crown by the Consistory at Hernosand, stating that, 
whereas the incumbent of the living of Nordmaling, 
PETRUS MARTINI ARGT^EDIUS to wit, was of advanced age, 
had been blind for over two years, and was in great 
bodily distress, they, the Consistory, sought leave to 
approve an application made by the said incumbent, 
praying that his son OLAUS might be empowered to suc- 
ceed him in the discharge of his duties, which applica- 
tion had, moreover, received the unanimous support of 
the congregation of the parish. In reply thereto an 
authorisation conferring the father's living on the son, 
was signed by King Charles XII in Lund on the 26th 
of September 1716. 
1 A small place on the coast, about 50 miles SW. of Umea. 
2 Anundsjo lies about as far (50 miles) from Nordmaling as 
that place is off Umea; it is inland, being almost due W. of Nord- 
maling. 
