Harris and Lena Ruskin 1878-1884
Looking for information:
OK here we go (I'll get to the genealogy part soon) I have it that "Ruskin" is probably of Jewish Russian origin -- at least one side of the tree for sure!! My Grand father was Russian Jewish and was unable to perform surgery in a Catholic hospital based on his surname. Indeed when I went to Yugoslavia in 1990 for the World Chess Olympiad during registration they mis-spelled my name as "Raskin". So I asked the person,"How do you get "Ruskin" from "Raskin" -- they don't even sound alike ?!?" but therein I got my first education. In the Cyrillic alphabet the "A" is pronounced like a "U' indeed the name Ruskin" in Cyrillic is spelled "PACKNH" with the letter "N" inverted. Indeed my name spelled in CyrillicApprox looks like this: PObEPT PACKNH. Thus surnames such as Ruskin, Raskin, etc. may all be related and simply anglosized from the Cyrillic thereby ending up with many names from one.
After the registar got my name spelled correctly I was asked, "Are you Russian?" She knew a LOT of "Ruskins" from areas in and around Russia . Indeed the name Russia get its name from a warlike tribe known as the Rus that inhabited the area around the Black sea if I recall correctly. I checked with a Soviet Grandmaster if "Ruskin" were a Russian name and with great disgust his replay was "Ya, Russian-JEWISH" -- and he spit out the Jewish part. Thus the English/Scottish Ruskins may have been Russians that were fleeing from Russia.
Here we go.My Name is Robert Ruskin Jr. (1952) and I have a sister named Stacy Ruskin (1953).
We are the children of Robert Ruskin Sr.(1922) who married Claire Cook (1927)
Robert Ruskin Sr. (1922) and Winifred Ruskin (1930) were the children ofAbraham W. Ruskin and Henrietta (no maiden name known) Ruskin. And *MAY* have married her around 1919. He was ~26, and she ~23. And here is where it gets interesting:
Abraham W. Ruskin (known as "Whitey") was born somewhere between Sept. 11, 1892, July 6, 1893, Sept. 10, 1893, Oct. 10, 1893. I know I have the right Abraham Ruskin because he was booked on passage with one Henrietta Ruskin (born Aug. 4th, 1896) and they were travelingwith one Robert Ruskin (1922) or Winifred Ruskin (1930).
Abraham W. Ruskin's parents were both from Russia according to census records. Abraham W. Ruskin was born in Jersey City, Hudson, N.J. Henrietta's (?) parents were both from New Jersey but probably to German parents.
Here is where it gets more murkey:
Abraham W. Ruskin *MAY* have been one of 7 children of Harris Ruskin and Lena Ruskin
The 7 children were:
Charles RuskinBorn ~ 1878-1879
Sarah RuskinBorn ~ 1886-1887
Jennie RuskinBorn ~ 1888-1889
Bessie RuskinBorn ~ 1890-1891
Abraham (Whitey) RuskinBorn ~ 1892-1893
Ida RuskinBorn ~ 1894-1895
Eddie (Abe) RuskinBorn ~ 1897-1899
Harris and Lena Ruskin immigrated to the U.S. somewhere between 1878-1884.
In the 1910 census his age is given as 55 and hers as 58, which if correct means he was born 1855, and she 1852.
Though the ages might have been inverted.
Fact: Robert Ruskin Sr. died Dec. 6th, 2006
Claire (Cook) Ruskin died Mar. 30, 1966
Speculation: I found one Jennie Ruskin *might* have married some guy by the name of Sawttsky --> Jennie Sawttsky
Sarah Ruskin *might* have married some guy by the name of Holstein --> Sarah Holstein
Bessie Ruskin may have been born Sept. 12, 1891, but she died June, 1982
If ANYONE out there has any information on Harris and Lena Ruskin, where they came from in Russia, when they married, the maiden name of Henrietta Ruskin, etc., etc. I sure would like to hear from you.