Parley Christian Madsen and Family

The Parley Christian Madsen Family 
              ~ shared by  Ardith Madsen Renning Milner

Large group photo is the Parley Madsen family in the mid-fifties.  Middle row is all of Parley and Rosina's children and center is Parley and Rosina.

Left to right:  Thelma Madsen Hair, Ardith Madsen Renning, Olive Madsen Bray, Rosina and Parley, Jay Madsen, Margaret Madsen, Myrl Madsen and Clark Madsen.  Standing behind each family member is their spouse and in front Parley and Rosina's grandchildren at that point.

The following note has been added May 9, 2011:Middle row, second person from right, looking at the photo, should be listed as Myrl Madsen Rasband.

 Middle row, third person from right, looking at the photo, should be listed as Margaret Madsen Jensen. 

The Lars Madsen family  - wife, Bodil/Bodel Nielsen Madsen, and children - Mads, Niels Peter, Anders (Andrew), Ann Margarethe, Jacobine, Niels and Lars Christian, came to the United States from their home in Holbaek, Denmark as members of the Latter Day Saints.


The family came in two groups - most of the children first, followed by Lars, Bodil and their youngest son, 
Lars Christian in 1856.  The oldest son, Mads, followed the others after collecting payments for the sale of the family’s farm in Denmark.


Unfortunately, Lars Madsen, husband and father, lost his life north of  Devil’s Gate Wyoming during November of 1856 and did not reach Utah.  Lars, Bodil, and Lars Christian were members of the William B. Hodgett  Company in 1856.  After the death of Lars, Bodil and young Christian, who was about eight years old, continued on to Utah.


After reuniting with her children, Bodil and most of the others eventually settled in Mt. Pleasant, Utah.  Members of the family married, had families and prospered.  Lars Christian married Hannah Poulson Lindstrom.  Born to them in Mt. Pleasant in 1881 was Parley Christian Madsen.  Hilda Electa Madsen Longsdorf born in 1877 in Mt. Pleasant to Andrew and Joanne E. Widergreen Andersen Madsen was, of course, Parley Christian’s cousin.  Hilda wrote, “The History of Mt. Pleasant.”


In 1909, Parley married Rosina Abigail Clark of Mt. Pleasant.  She was born in 1880.  Rosina (Sina) was the daughter of Ferdinand Clark (Klerk) and Hannah Christena Christensen also settlers of Mt. Pleasant.  Parley and Rosina’s family consisted of:  Jay, Olive, Clark, Ardith, Thelma, Margaret and Myrl. The children were raised for the most part in Springville. 


Parley was employed by the U.S. Forrest Service in 1906 and worked in Wyoming and Utah,  He retired after thirty-five years of service.  Rosina was an organist and soloist and while living in Mt. Pleasant, she and her father sang at gatherings and funerals.   In her later years in Springville, she enjoyed  church, handiwork, TV, and visiting with friends and family.


The fourth child, Ardith Bodel Madsen Renning, born in 1914, was my mother.  She graduated from Springville High School in 1931 and entered the LDS School of Nursing in Salt Lake.  After receiving her RN, she was employed by United Air Lines, flying from Salt Lake City to Oakland, California.  (Having an RN was a requirement of the airlines in the 30’s.)  In California Ardith  met and married, October 22, 1937, my father, Albert Weldon Renning of Collingswood, New Jersey.  He had been sent to San Francisco by the insurance company he was employed by in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  Ardith had to retire after marrying as this was a regulation of United Airlines then.  It was determined that she had flown some 500, 000 miles for United.  


The Rennings relocated to Collingswood, New Jersey, residing in South Jersey until their deaths, Albert in 1970 and Ardith in 1991.  Two daughters were born to this union and reside in Southern New Jersey near their families and grandchildren.


Parley Christian Madsen died in Provo, Utah in October 1957.  Rosina Abigail Clark Madsen died in April,  1979 in Heber, Utah.  Parley and Rosina have one living daughter as of this date in 2011.  The family is survived by many members who reside in Utah, California, Colorado and New Jersey.

Ardith Madsen Renning Milner

Parley and Rosina as a very young couple

Ardith B. Madsen in her United Airlines uniform


also see:http://mtpleasantpioneer.blogspot.com/2011/04/ardeth-madsen-shared-by-ardith-madsen.html

  Parley Christian Madsen (son of Christian Madsen and Hannah Poulson Lindstrom) .

Parley Christian, Rosina Abigail Clark Madsen, Olive Madsen Bray.  Back row:   Clark Christian Madsen and Jay Madsen.

 Rosina Abigail Clark Madsen was born on Oct. 24, 1880 in Mt. Pleasant,  Utah.

She was the daughter of Ferdinand Clark (or Klerk) born in 1859 in Jutland,  Denmark and his wife, Hannah Christena Christensen.  Hannah was born in Mt.  Pleasant on April 27, 1862.  Her father was James Christian Christensen.   Hannah married Ferdinand Clark on October 1, 1879 in Mt. Pleasant, Utah.

Rosina Abigail Clark married Parley Christian Madsen (son of Lars Christian  Madsen  and Hannah Poulson Lindstrom and great grandson of Lars Madsen and Bodil  Nielsen Madsen).  Rosina and Parley were married in Mt. Pleasant on June 30,  1909. 

Lars and Bodil  Madsen were  "Pioneers of the Month, Sept. 2010."

Parley and Rosina raised their children:  Jay, Olive, Clark, Ardith,  Thelma, Margaret and Myrle for the most part, that I know of, in Springville,  Utah.  Myrle is the only surviving child and resides in St. George, Utah.   Parley was a forest ranger and Rosina (Sina) a homemaker.

It appears to me that the Clark Furniture and Hardware Company of Mt.  Pleasant was managed (and perhaps owned by Ferdinand Clark). This information  comes to me from a paper written by Ruth Louise Clark Reynolds.

Ardith Madsen Renning Milner
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