Family rediscovered through a Family History project

Last year, my nephew, Hunter, was assigned a family history project. My brother and sister-in-law threw themselves into the project and dragged me along with them. We discovered quite a bit about the Nesselroad family and even began attempting to dig into other branches.

We did learn one hard, fast truth about looking up one's lineage: Landowners are by far easier to track than migrants or "poor folks".

So, starting with the Past, here is what we know about "our branch" of the tree.

In 1737, Sardin Christian Nesselroad was born in Germany. Approximately in 1752, he emigrated to the United States. In 1769, he married Elizabeth Kurz. They had 5 children:
Christopher 1774-1848
Christian Nestlerode 1762-1835
Israel Nestlerode 1763-1833
John Nesselroad 1765-1825
Daniel Nesselroad 1769-?

Sardin passed away in 1813 in Lancaster PA. Elizabeth may have passed away in West Virginia in 1843.

Our branch sprouts with Christopher. He married Mary Ann Cass from West Virginia in 1796 and they had one son: John 1806-1888

In 1828, John married Jane Grimes (born 1806, Mason WV). They had 9 children:
Mathew 1830-1916 (Moved to Ohio)
Christopher Columbus 1832-1915 (moved to Iowa after the Civil War)
Margaret 1836-?
Jasper 1840-?
Isaac Newton 1843-? (Moved to Kansas)
John 1847-1897 (Moved to Ohio)
George Washington 1848-?
Martha 1850-?
David McGary Nesselroad ?-? (shows as 1830, but no mention is made of Mathew and David being twins)

Now, John 1847 is the one we are following.

John 1847 married Margaret Jane Hendershot (1846-?) before 1869 and they had 3 children:
Osmer Wesley 1869-1928(?) (Moved to Kansas)
Malura "Lura" 1871-1951 (Moved to Kansas)
James A 1872-1904

In 1900, Osmer married Nellie G Beatty (1881-1956) in Iowa, and moved to Kansas sometime before the 1920 Census. They had 4 children:
Florence Helen 1906-?
James Milford 1909-1986
Mildred G 1912-?
Carl 1913-? (He died in his late teens due to a ruptured appendix)

Sometime after Carl was either conceived or born, Osmer disappeared. The family story is that Osmer fancied himself with a gun and "went off down Oklahoma Territory way" and was never heard from again.

James moved to Minnesota with the Civilian Conservation Corps. He met and married Elma Nyyssela. They had 3 children:
Janet Mary 1936-?
James Milford Jr 1938-?
Paul Wesley 1943-1989

James Jr married Judith Ann Merk in 1961. They had 2 children:
James Milford III 1965-?
Jennifer Mary 1966-?

Janet married Walter Nori and they had 3 children:
Shannon Kay 1960-
Michelle Jeannine 1963-
Colleen Marie 1967-

Paul Wesley married Winone Holtman and they had 2 children:
Andrea Winone 1975-
Chad Paul 1984-

(Believe me, if I have the years of the cousins wrong, they will correct me! :o)