Born: 15 March 1889, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota Died: 21 December 1929, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota Burial: St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, Minneapolis Religion: Catholic
Father: James S. Nolan (1856–1934) Born in Pennsylvania to Irish immigrant parents; long‑time Minneapolis resident; married Ellen Sexton; buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.
Mother: Ellen (Sexton) Nolan (1860–1936) Born in Wabasha County, Minnesota to Irish immigrants William Sexton and Frances Sweeney; educated at Villa Maria Academy; buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.
Mathew was one of the younger children in this well‑established Minneapolis Irish Catholic family.
Mathew grew up in South Minneapolis in a large Irish Catholic household rooted in:
Holy Rosary Parish
St. Mary’s Cemetery traditions
The Nolan–Sexton extended family network
He appears in Minneapolis census records throughout the 1890s and early 1900s.
Married in Minneapolis in 1911.
This marriage united two long‑standing Minneapolis families:
The Nolans, with Pennsylvania‑Irish Catholic origins
The Crombies, with Scottish‑Canadian and German Catholic roots
Together they raised a large family and formed the modern Minneapolis Nolan line.
Mathew and Beatrice were the parents of nine children:
Marian Nolan
James “Bud” W. Nolan
William Nolan
Rosemary Nolan
John Matthew Nolan
Patrick Joseph Nolan (Lt., WWII; killed in service)
Matthew James Nolan
Joseph Patrick Nolan
Catherine “Kalle” Nolan
These children form the core of the 20th‑century Nolan family in Minneapolis.
Mathew worked in Minneapolis trades typical of early‑20th‑century Irish Catholic families. Records show him employed in:
Labor and service positions
Skilled industrial work
Employment tied to Minneapolis’s expanding urban economy
His work supported a large household during a period of rapid city growth.
Mathew died young in 1929 at age 40, leaving Beatrice a widow with nine children. His early death shaped the trajectory of the Nolan family during the Great Depression, with Beatrice becoming the long‑time matriarch of the household.
He is buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery, alongside generations of Nolans, Sextons, Crombies, and Wagners.
Mathew J. Nolan (1889–1929) was:
Born and raised in Minneapolis
Son of James S. Nolan and Ellen Sexton
Husband of Beatrice Crombie
Father of nine children
A member of Minneapolis’s Irish Catholic community
A central figure in the formation of the modern Nolan–Crombie line
Buried at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery
His life represents the continuation of the Pennsylvania‑Irish Nolan heritage into the 20th century.