If your ancestors were from Mestlin, I would suggest looking at the parish records which are available to view at your nearest LDS family history center for a rental fee of $5.90 per film. The only censuses for this area and they are online would be 1819 and 1867, but for your purposes neither will be of help. Once you find some data on the family and can begin tracing the lineage back the 1819 might be helpful, but parish records are the way to go.

If you need further assistance or help with your research, you can contact me off board at unfoldinglineages@prodigy.net or visit my website: www.unfoldinglineages.com

You should be able to find the microfilm numbers you need to order via the familysearch.org site and most centers now do not place the orders, but you do it online and pay by credit card or paypal. They will send you email to update you one when the film arrive and when they are going to return it unless you pay additional increments of $5.90 per roll.

These records of course are going to be in German, but if you have a lot of patience and some word lists or a german genealogical dictionary, you should be able to work yourself through the records.

Good luck

Robert