Ribnitz: Isn't That On The French Riviera?

No, that would be Biarritz. Ribnitz is on the northern coast of Germany, formerly in the duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and happens to be the hometown of the Beu branch of my family. It took me a year to find it, but once I did, things started falling into place with startling ease.

Now, we come to the place where everyone has gotten to know me on a first-name basis: the local branch of the Family History Library. An absolute goldmine to anyone researching their families, as they've microfilmed as many records from all over the world as possible and make them available to anyone for only the cost of shipping. Among other things, they have all the parish records for Ribnitz going back to the 1600s, and as the census records could only take me so far, the parish records would get me the rest of the way. Sure enough...

Starting with what I was able to discover from the census records, I knew that Gustav's parents were Hermann and Caroline and Hermann's parents were Ludwig and Johanna, as well as years of birth and siblings' names, but that was all. Sure, it seems like a lot, but I'm a perfectionist. This was the side Oma really wanted to know about, so damn it, I was going to deliver. Then, the parish records came in and filled some of the holes:

Gustav was the son of Hermann Johann Karl Beu and Caroline (maiden name still unknown, for now), born 7 March 1891 and died 20 June 1963.

Hermann was the son of Ludwig Friedrich Andreas Beu and Johanna Sophie Louise Westphal (I think where Oma got the idea that her father was from Westfalen), born 27 February 1855 and died 1926/1927.

Ludwig was the son of Johann Henrich Daniel Beu and (Johanna) Dorothea Lisetta Grädener, born 12 September 1824 and died 2 May 1885.

I know Johann was born 23 October 1792, his wife 12 August 1792, but as I'm waiting for the pre-1800 film to come in, I don't have his parents' names yet. I do know, however, that Johann was a sailor, Ludwig owned a photography studio, and both Johanna Westphal and Dorothea Grädener were from the neighbouring town of Rostock. I like to think Johann's love of the sea runs in our blood, because Gustav was also a sailor, I grew up going out on Oma and Pop-pop's sailboat every summer weekend that wasn't stormy (and one or two that were), and I can't think of anyone in our family who doesn't love the ocean. Maybe things like that really do run in the genes.