I am looking for family of Frances Ruskauff. She married Roy Fisher in CA and had 4 children. I have been told she is Russian but I know nothing more. They lived in Riverside, CA Thanx, Karen

I have her ancestry also.

Frances Ruskauff was not Russian and is not Prussian. I have traced the Ruskauff ancestors to Osnabrueck, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Ruskauff is a name that is a Niederdeutsch dialect. It means "horse buyer."

Through various documents in the United States, Netherlands and Germany, and from letters and family histories, different spellings have been found for Ruskauff and Freker. All these spellings can only cause confusion and makes genealogy research difficult. Some of the variations that were found include:

Friday, Freitag, Frecker, Froeker, Fraker, Freker, Freeker

Ruskuff, Ruskauff, Ruskaff, Ruskauf, Rüsko, Rüskou, Rußkaup, Rußkauf, Rüscou, Rostock, Ruskaup, Ruskamp, Ruskaup, Rußkamp, Russcoup, Russkof, Ruskhof, Ruskoff, Roskeupp, Roskauff, Roskamp, Roscoff, Rosknop, Roßkamp, Rosskaup, Roschkhauf, Roskauff.

More can be found at my website: http://earlydues.usanethosting.com/ruskauff/index.htm

~Debbie

I think I know where the confusion lies, in why one might think the Ruskauff name is Russian. I found a "Roskopf" family listed in a April 29, 1908 ship manifest from Ellis Island, port of departure in Bremen, line 0019.

This Roskopf family is listed as German, and their last residence was Marienfeld, Russia. Their final destination was Denver, Colorado.

Why some Germans went to Russia: "In 1763 Catherine the Great of Russia offered free land, no taxes for thirty years, freedom of religion, and other incentives to encourage Germans to settle her vast, sparsely populated domain. Dozens of German colonies were established and grew until World War I. Many Russian Germans moved to the United States, Canada, or South America beginning in 1874." Taken from: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/Rg/guide/Germany14.as...

I see you have done a lot of research on them. Thank you for the info. Thank you for spending so much time and effort researching this. I am just an amatuer genealogist and it is nice to lean on more knwledgable shoulders for help. Thanks again.
Karen