{"id":820,"date":"2026-09-11T12:05:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/family-tree\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T12:05:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T12:05:48","slug":"family-tree","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/family-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

Three Countries, One Family<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nolan Lineage<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Four generations, three passports, one surname. Traced from a Boston harbor to a Rhineland village to a courtyard in Chengdu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Est. 1931<\/span>3 Branches<\/span>4 Generations<\/span>27 Names<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

I<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation One \u2014 The Founders, born 1931\u20131938<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walter Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1931 \u00b7 Boston, Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Merchant marine turned shipwright; kept a journal in three notebooks that started this whole archive.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilse Vogel Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1934 \u00b7 Trier, Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Left the Moselle valley in 1958; taught herself English from radio broadcasts and love letters.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

II<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation Two \u2014 The Crossing, born 1959\u20131968<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1959 \u00b7 Boston, Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stayed near the harbor; ran the family boatyard for thirty-one years.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greta Nolan Hoffmann<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1962 \u00b7 Trier, Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Returned to Germany at nineteen; still keeps Walter’s shipwright tools in her cellar.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wei Lin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1961 \u00b7 Chengdu, Sichuan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Married into the family in 1985; brought the recipes that still open every reunion dinner.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

III<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation Three \u2014 The Wide Years, born 1984\u20131996<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Nolan-Zhang<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1986 \u00b7 Portland, Oregon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First branch cousin to marry across all three lines; started the annual reunion tradition.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonas Hoffmann<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1988 \u00b7 Cologne, Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restores old sailboats \u2014 a hobby he swears skipped a generation from Walter.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mei Lin Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1990 \u00b7 Chengdu, Sichuan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keeps the family ledger now; digitized Walter’s original notebooks in 2019.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1993 \u00b7 Boston, Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still lives four blocks from the old boatyard; teaches high school history.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lena Hoffmann-Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1991 \u00b7 Trier, Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moved to Chengdu for two years; came back fluent and married to Mei Lin’s cousin.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tao Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 1996 \u00b7 Shanghai, China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The family’s first professional photographer \u2014 most gallery images are his.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

IV<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Generation Four \u2014 The Youngest Branches, born 2011\u20132021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Owen Zhang<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 2014 \u00b7 Portland, Oregon<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Named for Sarah’s grandfather; already asking for a boat of his own.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frieda Hoffmann<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 2016 \u00b7 Cologne, Germany<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third Frieda in the family line \u2014 a name that always returns.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

China<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xin Lin<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 2018 \u00b7 Chengdu, Sichuan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Mandarin, English and a little Trier dialect at once.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clara Nolan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

B. 2021 \u00b7 Boston, Massachusetts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newest name added to the ledger, as of last spring.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n

Naming Traditions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a name<\/span> carries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the American branch, first sons often inherit a grandfather’s name outright \u2014 hence three Walters across four generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the German branch, names cycle rather than repeat exactly: Frieda, Greta and Ilse reappear every third generation, chosen by the grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Chinese branch, given names are often composed to echo a sibling’s or cousin’s, so that a generation shares a syllable \u2014 Wei, Mei and Xin all root back to the same character.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n\n

This tree is a living document. Dates, spellings and photographs are still being recovered from three households and two languages we don’t all speak fluently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re family and you’ve spotted a missing birthday, a misplaced city or a name we’ve gotten wrong, we would love to hear from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Send a Correction<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Countries, One Family The Nolan Lineage Four generations, three passports, one surname. Traced from a Boston harbor to a Rhineland village to a courtyard in Chengdu. Est. 19313 Branches4 Generations27 Names I Generation One \u2014 The Founders, born 1931\u20131938 U.S. Walter Nolan B. 1931 \u00b7 Boston, Massachusetts Merchant marine turned shipwright; kept a journal … <\/p>\n

Read more “Family Tree”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-templates\/full-width-no-title.php","meta":{"inspiro_hide_title":false,"inspiro_hide_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-820","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"featured_media_urls":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820\/revisions\/828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolan.de\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}