He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith with a very pale complexion. It was real bad in her, Alva Stacy, the boys father, explained. Luna Stacy possessed the good health common to the blue people, bearing at least 13 children before she died at 84. Eventually, a nurse named Ruth Pendergrass heard of them, and, along with a hematologist named Madison Cawein III, decided to go meet these locally famous blue people in person. Habitat: Thick shrubbery and areas with tall trees. The gene is still around today but has now become statistically insignificant and there are no serious medical problems associated with it. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Born Jan. 16, 1869, in Marion County, Ephraim Franklin Morgan went on to become one of West Virginia's governors. Cawein needed fresh blood to do an enzyme assay. Patrick and Rachel Ritchie, who lived in Hardburly, were also blue. During the same time period, missionaries reported pervasive ignorance and poverty, with large families living together in ramshackle cabins. Today I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor. Some sites say 100%. And at least in one famous case, a man turned his skin permanently blue from drinking too much colloidal silver supplements and rubbing colloidal silver cream on his skin (the condition is called argyria or silver poisoning). Within a few minutes. In normal people hemoglobin is converted to methemoglobin at a very slow rate. Population: 10,486Mobile home parks in area: 3rd in WVBars per capita: 3rdGun stores per capita: 5th in West Virginia. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. H & S Sporting Goods, Princeton, WV. If this story were true everyone in Alabama would be blue. The risk skyrockets if you're sharing blood.". Martin Fugate carried the recessive gene and the odds that he could have married a woman with the same recessive gene were overwhelming - but that is exactly what happened. It was painful. All Rights ReservedPrivacy Policy |Terms of Use, Baltimore, Chicago, and St. Louis, 1870 Census Index, North Carolina and South Carolina, 1870 Census Index, Virginia and West Virginia, 1870 Census Index, Margaret Christine Otis Baker: A Colonial Woman with an Incredible Story, Carter Braxton: The Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Josiah Bartlett: The Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Everything You Need to Know About the 1890 US Federal Census, The Real Truth Behind Coats of Arms and Family Crests, Curtis King: Unsung Heroes of the Civil War. Martin married a red-headed American woman named Elizabeth Smith and the two set up a homestead on the banks of Troublesome Creek near Hazard County, Kentucky. by F. William Sunderman, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia PA, 1964. The Appalachian region of the US is a beautiful place with a rich and sometimes tragic history. Two YouTubers have shared an inside look into Odd as they documented themselves traveling down a windy two-lane road. West Virginia Get facts and photos about the 35th state. In 1820, Martin Fugate, who is believed to have been blue, moved to Troublesome Creek from France and just happened to shack up with Elizabeth Smith, who also carried the gene. ELVIS SEEN AT GRACELAND ON HIS 85th BIRTHDAY! When West Virginia University decided to put "Black Lives Matter" decals on the back of their football helmets, the reaction by the people of . It was almost purple, his father recalls. Scott was a Public Health Service doctor at the Arctic Health Research Center in Anchorage who had discovered hereditary methemoglobinemia among Alaskan Eskimos and Indians. They wouldnt come into the waiting room. The following piece was collected at a dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friends birthday. After ruling out heart and lung diseases, the doctor suspected methemoglobinemia, a rare hereditary blood disorder that results from excess levels of methemoglobin in the blood. From California herself, the informant was very curious to hear about what the people of West Virginia were like. For the Fugates, family members expressed the gene to varying degrees. By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh Fast Facts Nickname: The Mountain State Statehood: 1863; 35th state Population (as of July, 2016): 1,831,102. The Blue Ridge was reached in 1670, and in 1671 another expedition encountered the first westward-flowing stream, the New River, in southwestern Virginia. The lightness or darkness of the blue depends on the amount of the substance the person has circulating in them from birth. It like to scared me to death! 39, 1960) that the answer began to emerge. While not every Fugate child was born with the condition, as genes express themselves differently in different people, enough were that locals began to take notice. Cause, you know, rednecks like to hunt, drink, smoke and shoot things. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. 2022 Science Classroom Teacher Resources. RoadSnacks is reader-supported. Its true that, through the 19th century, transportation networks developed slowly in the rugged, westernmost portion of Virginia (incorporated as West Virginia in 1863). Have you ever heard the song, Blue Moon of Kentucky? Its pretty well-known and popular. "That's crazy.". Well, according to the official bible of literature, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a redneck is: A white person who lives in a small town or in the country especially in the southern U.S., who typically has a working-class job, and who is seen by others as being uneducated and having opinions and attitudes that are offensive.. But Cawein knew from earlier studies that the body has an alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to normal. Benjy was born in a maternity ward near Hazard, Kentucky and was rushed by ambulance to a medical clinic in Lexington to find help for his blue problem. However, only 89% are white, and a whopping 83% finished high school. Population: 5,626High school graduation rate: 72%Gun stores per capita: 5th in WVFishing/bait per capita: 3rd in the state. Ballengee testified in earlier civil depositions. Where people have deer horns on their hoods. Ask the Explainer. The Fugate family of Kentucky has been known for their blue skin color for generations. Cawein would drive back and forth between Lexington and Hazard an eight-hour ordeal before the tollway was built and scour the hills looking for the blue people hed heard rumors about. Its 97% white, very blue collar, and there are lots of places to get guns, ammo and chew. They took the doctor to see their uncle, who was blue, too. The people of West Virginia are deeply proud and they don't particularly like change of any kind. Published November 21, 2021 Updated November 29, 2021 For nearly 200 years, the Fugates known as the blue people of Kentucky remained largely sealed off from the outside world as they passed their blue skin from generation to generation. Of their seven children, four were blue. Informant: "So, what my brother told me is that there's a story that there are people in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, near the campus I guess, and there is skin is blue. We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine the dirt on places across the country. Days of testing provided no answers; but then Benjy's grandmother told the doctor a story about the "blue" Fugates. The Fugate family didnt leave the area for generations, continually intermarrying with relatives. Cawein, in researching the family lines in Perry County, Kentucky and with the help of Fugate Family Bibles, found in fact, that the Fugates had married Fugates, had married first cousins, and had intermarried with families whose surnames were: Combs, Smith, Ritchie, and Stacy. My first reaction to this story was wondering whether there was a scientific reason, or condition perhaps, that acted as a precursor to this belief of a skin condition that was a result of incest. Meghan. It reduced the brightness of the blue on their skin. 1:52. He was involved as a law enforcement officer in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, the West Virginia Mine Wars and the destruction of moonshine stills. Curiosity drove him to Hazard where he was introduced to a nurse, Ruth Pendergrass, who had met a "dark blue" woman. So you can tell if someone is a product of incest if their skin is blue! The company's principal address is Tuckers Run Rd . If their blood had a lower concentration of methemoglobin, they might only blush blue in cold weather, while people with higher concentrations of methemoglobin were bright blue from head to toe. Little did they know that their union would create shades of blue people! The Blue Ridge Mountains In West Virginia Were Named One Of The 50 Most Beautiful Places In The World We all know the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia are stunning, and it's about time the rest of the world took notice. Appearance: Blue grosbeaks are medium birds about 8 long, large, bright blue, with large silver bills, and chestnut wingbars. The enzyme eventually builds to normal levels in most children and to almost normal levels in those like Benjy, who carry one gene. Cawein, Madison and E.J. Her name was Ruth Pendergrass, and she had been trying to stir up medical interest in the blue people ever since a dark blue woman walked into the county health department one bitterly cold afternoon and asked for a blood test. As three bald and blue men explore our world, together we'll discover music, laughter and surprises at every turn. score: 5 of 27 (18%) required scores: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 list stats leaders vote Vote print comments. They were like any other 1800s family except theyliked inbreeding. The story of an Appalachian malady, an inquisitive doctor, and a paradoxical cure. The gene is still around today but has now become statistically insignificant and there are no serious medical problems associated with it. She was as blue a woman as I ever saw.. Stumped, the doctor turned to the medical literature for a clue. Mary (Dawley) Fugate, who answers quite a few queries and also helped compile the genealogy book, indicates that the siblings of Martin Fugate were not blue but he must have been a carrier. Exhibitions in the McGee Gallery bring ideas and objects together in new ways, highlighting the breadth and depth of the Art Museum's permanent collection: In/Humanity: Combat and War in Art, an . If theyd immigrated to other areas, even other areas of Kentucky, they likely would have married non-relatives, and the condition would have faded out of the family long before it did. Explainer thanks Edwin Arnold of Appalachian State University, Anthony Harkins of Western Kentucky University, and David Hsiung of Juniata College. She gets upset at all the talk of inbreeding among the Fugates. But his first love, which he developed as an Army medical technician in World War II, was hematology. He found references to methemoglobinemia dating to the turn of the century, but it wasnt until he came across E. M. Scotts 1960 report in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (vol. Luke was just as blue as Lake Louise on a cool summer day, doctor Charles H. Behlen II told the Tri-City Herald in 1974. They sing in the Stacy Family Gospel Band and have provided their children with a beautiful home and a menagerie of pets, including horses. And they married the people who lived closest to them, the Combses, Smiths, Ritchies, and Stacys. His car gave out on the dirt road to Zachs house, and the doctor had to borrow a Jeep from a filling station. Population: 7,164 Mobile home parks per capita: 2nd in West Virginia Bars per capita: 2nd in the state Walmart rank: 3rd Elkins is way out in the middle of nowhere south of Morgantown, at the base of the Appalachians. A stance in favor of new abortion restrictions. They werent sick; it was just the way they look. He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith who had a very pale complexion and their union formed a genetic mutation that resulted in their descendants being born with blue skin. 10,000 BC: Paleo-Indian Era (Stone Age culture) the earliest human inhabitants of America who lived in caves and were Nomadic hunters of large game including the Great Mammoth and giant bison. "They were bluer'n hell," said Cawein in a 1982 interview with Science 82. By the time theyd get to the top, the person would be gone. Then he began to construct the family genealogy and traced their roots back to Martin and Elizabeth Fugate. Many of us have college degrees, are nurses, teachers, preachers and well-educated women. The methylene blue he used on them is a dye a blue dye, ironically. Cancel any time, no strings attached. Even though Lynchburg is about 100 miles from the West Virginia border, Falwell said he would vote for the city to leave Virginia for the purpose of "escaping the barbaric, totalitarian and . Got a question about todays news? When they settled this country back then, there was no roads. Hereditary diaphorase deficiency and methemoglobinemia. I was actually born with my twin sisters fetus inside me. Legend has it that Martin himself may have had a blue tinge to his skin, but not the dark blue color of later Fugates. Before Cawein ended his study of the blue people, he returned to the mountains to patch together the long and twisted journey of Martin Fugates recessive gene. The Fugate family intermarried with a neighbouring family for generations, which led to a relatively pure gene pool, often including the met-H gene. Note: In this instance the reason for cyanosis was not methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility. Fear that more inflation will cost jobs. Finding it ridiculous herself, the Informant told me that she still enjoys being a part of the joke. In more recent memory, the 2003 film Wrong Turn helped perpetuate the inbreeding stereotype. He married Elizabeth Smith, who carried a recessive gene for a genetic condition called methemoglobinemia, which gives those who have it blue-toned skin, even though they are otherwise perfectly healthy. If youre curious enough, here are the least redneck places in West Virginia (if thats even possible): We aim to deliver infotainment about where you live that your real estate agent won't tell you. What Happened to the Blue People? They were real, and they really were blue, thanks to a recessive genetic condition. Sometimes, it can be really faint though, so you have to look closely at their lips or fingernails. valley in the mountains in West Virginia with a barn and cows visible Stephanie Pittman 561 followers More information Blue People of West Virginia | . Dating back to the early 1800s, an isolated family in eastern Kentucky who can trace their roots back to a French orphan started producing children who were blue. Inbreeding in eastern Kentucky has been turning offspring blue since the early 1880s. Population: 6,427High school graduation rate: 70%Bars per capita: 1st in WVMobile home parks per capita: 1st. Add to calendar. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'roadsnacks_net-medrectangle-3','ezslot_0',606,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-roadsnacks_net-medrectangle-3-0');Using that criteria, its not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where rednecks might live in West Virginia, and then put out a list. Start your free trial today to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search. When Two Strangers Lost the Genetic Lottery Martin Fugate arrived in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky in 1820. The Blue People of Kentucky were first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the 1960s by Dr. Madison Cawein, a noted hematologist. Just like the Alaskans, their blood had accumulated so much of the blue molecule that it over- whelmed the red of normal hcmoglobin that shows through as pink in the skin of most Caucasians. A transfusion was being prepared when Benjys grandmother spoke up. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were "bright blue" according to Fugate family lore. Then, in 2004, Abercrombie & Fitch released a T-shirt emblazoned with a map of the Appalachian state and the words Its all relative in West Virginia. In February, a casting director for the upcoming thriller Shelter put out a call for extras with unusual body shapes, [and] even physical abnormalities to depict West Virginia mountain people. the blue color was gone from their skin," Cawein said. The Faces of Appalachia. Folklore maintained the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems. The only thing Stacy cant or wont remember is that his wife Luna was blue. *. 20 Fine Arts Drive, Morgantown, WV 26506. https://artmuseum.wvu.edu. Hemoglobin gets its red color from a compound called heme that contains an iron atom. While in the hills, Cawein drove over to see Zach (Big Man) Fugate, the 76-year-old patriarch of the clan on Troublesome Creek. When Two Strangers Lost the Genetic Lottery, Special Offer on Antivirus Software From HowStuffWorks and TotalAV Security, Human Genetics: Concepts and Applications, reactions to certain topical pain relievers. Having blue children did not concern them. "The beginning of this story is so wild because Martin moved to Kentucky from Europe and married a complete stranger, a nonrelative who just happened to have the same mutation," says Lewis. West Virginia's House congressional districts run from east to west, creating a three-way split that fractures pockets of blue support in the far northern and southwestern parts of the state . Google Maps. Most of them old people went by that name the blue Fugates. In 1820, Martin Fugate, who is believed to have been blue, moved to Troublesome Creek from France and just happened to shack up with Elizabeth Smith, who also carried the gene. the mans picture at the bottom got his unusual color from taking silver nitrate which will turn anyone blue if it is taken over a long period of time. This publication also contains information on state and federal agencies; postal information; the Constitutions of the United States and West Virginia; and, considerable information on counties, municipalities and various organizations. She remembers the story very easily, most often humorously, because she remembers the manner in which her brother told her. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Blue People of Kentucky Why the Fugate Family Had Blue SkinA Frenchman arrived in Kentucky in 1820, bringing with him his strange blue skin. It seems as if this area is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list. What neither she nor Martin could have known is that they both carried the recessive gene for a rare hereditary blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. The ZTF scans the entire Northern sky . The 2010 survey revealed that there were 1,852,994 people living in West Virginia, which represented a modest rise of just 2.5% on the numbers declared at the 2000 census. Aside from the stark discoloration of the carriers skin, there are no serious problems associated with the disease. The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, . Methemoglobinemia is one of the rare genetic conditions that's treatable with a simple pill. Incredibly, Benjy had inherited a gene dating back over 162 years! avg. Elkins Journeez Bar, Elkins, WV. His lips and fingernails still turn a shade of purple-blue when he gets cold or angry a quirk that so intrigued medical students after Benjys birth that they would crowd around the baby and try to make him cry. 3 of 10 isnt good enough; think of how high you wouldve finished on this list had more of you ditched class to head to the hills on Friday mornings like a lot of your friends. You know theres lots of rednecks here when you look at the numbers. And a sense that President . type to search . The number of tobacco stores per capita (we call it the chew factor) is the highest in West Virginia here in Charles Town. Because the boy was intensely blue at birth but then recovered his normal skin tones, Benjy is assumed to have inherlted only one gene for the condition. Even so, Cawein still gets calls for advice. What he got from Martin Fugate was dark blue skin. Wheeling's city flag checks all the boxes for an [] When you look at the numbers, its clear that most of Moundsville is a buncha fun-lovin rednecks. So, hold our beers and watch this. All he needed was a substance that could "donate" a free electron to the methemoglobin, allowing it to bond with oxygen. In most people, there is an enzyme present called diaphorase that converts methemoglobin back into a usable form of hemoglobin. Some of us finished high school and became the "dreaded wife and mother"-as society portrays it. Benjy lost his blue tint within a few weeks, and now he is about as normal looking a seven-year-old boy as you could hope to find. The doctor was recently approached by the producers of the television show Thats Incredible. They wanted to parade the blue people across the screen in their weekly display of human oddities. I looked at other enzymes and nothing was wrong with them. They were bluern hell, Cawein says. The strain of inherited blue began to disappear as the recessive gene spread to families where it was unlikely to be paired with a similar gene. Tests for abnormal hemoglobin were negative. The region's first coal miners primarily were African Americans, both enslaved and free. In 2014, the lowest-cost bronze plan in the WV exchange was an average of $280/month, higher than the national average of $249. there is no "blue-soloution" that turns them back to a "normal" color. (Baltimore: Gateway Press 1986). In response, Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia railed against the veep, accusing him of astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen. Howd West Virginia get a reputation for inbreeding? The inbreeding caused the recessive gene to appear in both parents. She looked like she was having a heart attack. Wait. The Fugate familys condition caused the blue members to be missing that enzyme; because their methemoglobin couldnt be converted, large amounts of it built up in the blue Fugates, even before birth, causing a very obvious blue tone to their skin. I can see that old blue running out of my skin, he confided. Her face and her fingernails were almost indigo blue. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. It is documented that Fugates were born in the colonies in the mid 1600's but the original progenitor has not been confirmed. There was a Zachariah Fugate who was married to a Mary Smith; both carried the gene which resulted in blue children. Steelworkers Damion Elkins, 50, right, and Edward Clonch, 43, left, in Huntington West Virginia. The Wilson Family of West Virginia. And shop at Walmart. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. For the first time in their lives, they were pink. Mountain People. They lived in isolation and married the girl next door, even if they had the same last name, and consequently passed the gene on to many generations. Blood is also likely to be a chocolate brown color instead of bright red in patients with methemoglobinemia. This small enclave was no longer isolated and they began to disperse and marry outside of their little clan diminishing the effect of the "blue" gene. Dating back to the early 1800s, an isolated family in eastern Kentucky - who can trace their roots back to a French orphan - started producing children who were blue. Mary Fugate said that the gene is very dominant in the Smith line but there is still no concrete answers as to what couple started the shades of blue people. It would be hard to doubt this gracious man except that you cant find another person who knew Luna who doesnt remember her as being blue. Green human are possible. Sit back, relax, and read the amazing but true genetic tale of the Blue People of Kentucky. Their cheeks are solid white, their wings and backs are gray, and their underbodies are fluffy and light. Cawein packed his black bag and rounded up Nurse Pendergrass for the big event. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. Several familes moved elsewhere after being bought out. God Bless America. But there around 10 or 15 Dollar Stores in the area. Blue skin. There are other ways to get blue skin without inheriting it, though. Have you ever heard of the blue Fugates of Troublesome Creek? she asked the doctors. For some, though, there was a pain not seen in lab tests. At 55%, people may feel extremely lethargic and go in and out of consciousness. The only real picture is of a man who turned himself blue by eating silver. Come on, Grafton rednecks. Cawein and his colleagues published their research on hereditary diaphorase deficiency in the Archives of Internal Medicine (April, 1964) in 1964. Blood cells always looked so beautiful to me, he says. One relative describes her as blue all over, and another calls Luna the bluest woman I ever saw.. The notion of widespread inbreeding was at least in part the result of crude assumptions about how these isolated forest people might have been perpetuating their communities. After concluding that there was no evidence of heart disease, I said Aha! I started asking them questions: Do you have any relatives who are blue? then I sat down and we began to chart the family., Cawein remembers the pain that showed on the Ritchie brothers and sisters faces. Instead, football players bore a bronzesque gold helmet emblazoned with a blue outline of the state of West Virginia and the letters "WVU" inside an oval. Soon, the Fugates became known as the Blue Fugates of Kentucky. This brief history has been gleaned from old family records, correspondence with other members, and histories of Ritchie, Barbour, Harrison and Randolph Counties, West Virginia. Major Occupational Groups in West Virginia ( Note --clicking a link will scroll the page to the occupational group): 00-0000 All Occupations 11-0000 Management Occupations 13-0000 Business and Financial Operations Occupations 15-0000 Computer and Mathematical Occupations 17-0000 Architecture and Engineering Occupations It run in that generation who lived up and down Ball [Creek]., They looked like anybody else, cept they had the blue color, Stacy says, sitting in a chair in his plaid flannel shirt and suspenders, next to a cardboard box where a small black piglet, kept as a pet, is squealing for his bottle. But by 3 years old and . Fairmont is a short truck drive down from Morgantown. Normally diaphorase converts methemoglobin back to hemoglobin. Give the gift of knowledge with our official 'did you know' book. It was later discovered ascorbic acid can do this, as well. Scott's research had found hereditary methemoglobinemia among Alaskan Eskimos and Indians caused by an absence of the enzyme diaphorase from their red blood cells. They were delighted., They changed colors! remembered Pendergrass. Edit Old Gold & Blue Page Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. For the record, West Virginia has strict anti-incest laws. Little Blue Run in Chester West Virginia is gone 8/8/2004: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes about Little Blue Run: Dangerous disposal, by Alyson Walls . It was really something exciting to see.. It can make a claim that it should top this list, since it has the most people. His two room log cabin sits in the middle of Laurel Fork Hollow. The Registered Agent on file for this company is Mikeooney. In the early 1960's, this blue malady caught the attention of Madison Cawein, an inquisitive hematologist from the University of Kentucky. GreenPower Motor Co. to begin manufacturing at South Charleston, West Virginia facility 'this quarter' Hot and cold: Up and down weather calls for adaptation for West Virginia's ski destinations; Morgantown (West Virginia) business owner who pleaded guilty to Jan. 6 charges sued along with Trump; This Week in West Virginia History And a Walmart all to their own. Some say 99%. They were poor people, concurs Nurse Pendergrass, but they were good.References1. The Fugate Family of Russell County, Virginia: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Francis, Benjamin, Colbert, Zachariah, Henley & William Fugate, Settlers of Moccasin Valley from 1772. Martin Fugate was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on the wilderness banks of Troublesome Creek. Princeton is located down on I-77, before you make the climb into Virginia. Dark blue lips and fingernails are the only traces of Martin Fugates legacy left in the boy; that, and the recessive gene that has shaded many of the Fugates and their kin blue for the past 162 years. Benjy lost his blue tint within a few weeks, and now he is about as normal looking a seven-year-old boy as you could hope to find. it is a blood disorder in which their blood does not oxygenate correctly. Martin Fugate arrived in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky in 1820. The search for blue people ensued. Finally, one day when the frustrated doctor was idling inside the Hazard clinic, Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked in. 7000 BC: Archaic Period in which people built basic shelters and made stone weapons and stone tools Of their seven children, four were blue. Laughing, the Informant launched into a story of the West Virginia Blue People, a story about a genetic condition the resulted from intermarriage. He remembered that the Ritchie siblings "were really embarrassed about being blue." Embarrassed by their bluish hue, the families retreated even further from society, which only exacerbated the problem. Luna was bluish all over. So, youd think people who are rednecks would be proud to be called a redneck. In 2019, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in West Virginia was 1.66%, meaning that the rate has been decreasing. His lips and fingernails still turn a shade of purple-blue when he gets cold or angry a quirk that so intrigued medical students after Benjy's birth that they would crowd around the baby and try to make him cry. Since rail lines and paved roads didn't make it out to Troublesome Creek for nearly a century, the blue recessive gene was passed down to generations of Fugates and neighboring families, all of whom came to be known as "the blue people of Kentucky.". 2 Many is more accurate since the practice is legal, or legal under certain circumstances, in more than 20 states. Its a part of our culture. Population: 7,164Mobile home parks per capita: 2nd in West VirginiaBars per capita: 2nd in the stateWalmart rank: 3rd. The Northfork High School "Blue Demons" were a force to be reckoned with from 1971 to 1984, setting national records including most consecutive state championships. You have the most bars and trailer parks per capita in the state, and your high school graduation rate is 70%. They were delighted.". March 8, 2012— -- Kerry Green was a "blue baby," born in 1964 in Tulsa, Okla., and his family was given little hope that he would live because of a malformed aorta. We just have our own way of life. Elizabeth had pale white skin, almost translucent. In the isolated hollows of rural Kentucky, they were known as the blue Fugates and the blue Combses. Additional comment actions. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. Since there werent any roads or trains near their small community, the kidswere married off to the only people who lived nearby: their cousins. Its nothing.. Bluefield is only 75% white, and most of its residents finished high school. Blue Man Group will rock your world. Google Maps. As travel became easier, more people moved into and out of the Fugates area of Kentucky, including some actual Fugates. "If you took any random person in the population, maybe one in 100,000 would carry this gene, if that many," says Ricki Lewis, a science writer and author of the textbook "Human Genetics: Concepts and Applications," now in its 13th edition. Called methaemoglobinaemia (commonly known as met-H), the condition reduces the individuals ability to carry oxygen in their blood. You could tell how much it bothered them to be blue.. I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. Intermarrying with people other than close relatives meant the likelihood of any Fugate descendant being born with the condition reduced. They just accepted it as a part of who they were. While the substance isn't harmful, large amounts of it will tint any tissue that has blood flowing to it a blue color. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. Benjy Stacy is one of the last of the blue Fugates. A mutated gene causes their bodies to build up a rare form of hemoglobin called methemoglobin that can't bond with oxygen. However, it has the ability to change the blue hemoglobin back to a normal color, and remove the blue tone from their skin almost instantly. Population: 5,373Tobacco stores per capita: 5th in West VirginiaGun stores per capita: 2ndFishing/bait shops per capita: 2nd. WHEELING, W.Va. (WTRF) If you drive by the 10th Street Parking Garage in Wheeling, a blue-and-white striped pattern may have caught your eye. They have the 2nd most bars and the 2nd most trailer/mobile home parks per capita in the state. If youll notice, he observes, tracing lines on his familys chart, which lists his mothers and his fathers great grandfather as Henley Fugate, Im kin to myself.. The boy inherited his fathers lankiness and his mothers slightly nasal way of speaking. The last known "blue" Fugate descendant was born in 1975. This led to the propagation of the genetic condition that gave them their distinctive blue skin color. All rights reserved. The Informant learned this information from her brother, when he returned home after his first semester at school. valley in the mountains in West Virginia with a barn and cows visible West Virginia Mountains Fall Foliage The Mountain Spruce Fall Colors Beautiful Pictures See the video below. That iron atom binds with oxygen, which is how red blood cells circulate oxygen throughout the body. "There is a clan of partly-colored people in Barbour County often called Guineas, under the erroneous presumption that they are Guinea negroes," observed WV historian Hu Maxwell in the 1890s. Methemoglobinemia is a blood condition, not a skin condition. by Cathy TrostScience82, November, 1982. And unleash your spirit. Her name was Ruth Pendergrass, and she had been trying to stir up medical interest in the blue people ever since a dark blue woman walked into the county health department one bitterly cold afternoon and asked for a blood test. You have the official bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state of West Virginia. She was a sister to one of the Fugate women. About this same time, another of the blue Combses, named Luke, had taken his sick wife up to the clinic at Lexington. Of their seven children, four were reported to be blue. New Martinsville is located in the northwestern part of the state, right on the Ohio state line. Only adopted cousins are allowed to marry, while in Vermont, Virginia, and many other states, first cousins can tie the knot. The odds against it were incalculable, but Martin Fugate managed to find and marry a woman who carried the same recessive gene. astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen, [are neither] unique [n]or particularly common to the region. Research on intrafamilial marriage in such enclaves is slim. The company's filing status is listed as Revoked (Failure To File Annual Report) and its File Number is 45369. One could inherit the gene, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene on to a child. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. So close! Informant: So, what my brother told me is that theres a story that there are people in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, near the campus I guess, and there is skin is blue. The family was first discovered in 1958 when one of the blue men, Luke Combs, who was a descendant of another branch of the Fugate family, took his white wife to the University of Kentucky Hospital and doctors paid more attention to him than his wife. With Fugate blood on both his mothers and his fathers side, the boy could have received genes for the enzyme deficiency from either direction. Their inbreeding led to several medical problems and recessive genes being passed down through each child, such as one that gave some of the offspring blue skin. Hilda Stacy (nee Godsey) is fiercely protective of her son. Those who are otherwise healthy with levels under 15% may exhibit minor symptoms or none at all. If enough blood is "infected" with this faulty type of hemoglobin, it changes from red to an almost purple-ish dark blue. Generations later, a descendant of Martin Fugate, Benjy Stacy, would be born "blue". In his research, he found a 1960 article by E. M. Scott that was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The afflicted were embarrassed about their condition and adamant about talking to Cawein. References Buckhannon is a town thats 95% white, where 3 out of 10 people didnt graduate from high school. What is a redneck anyways? The gene would most likely appear in an inbred line. Wingspan: 6.3-8.3 in (Black-Capped), 5.9-7.9 in (Carolina) Chickadees are tiny little birds that are very easy to recognize because of their "black cap" and black bib. The gold of the helmet did not reflect the gold utilized in our colors today. One came from a blue Flugate whod joined the Army and been sent to Panama, where his son was born bright blue. Cawein is no stranger to eccentricities of the body. But as Kentucky became more populated and more genes came into the Fugate family tree, there were far fewer children born blue. Excise tax on bottled soft drinks, syrups and dry mixtures; disposition thereof. The small coal mining town in McDowell County received national attention. Six generations after a French orphan named Martin Fugate settled on the banks of eastern Kentuckys Troublesome Creek with his redheaded American bride, his great-great-great great grandson was born in a modern hospital not far from where the creek still runs. That total makes West Virginia the 38th most populous state in the country. Funding was made available through a $75 million facilities bond, $25 million in private donations through the Mountaineer Athletic Club and $6 million from West Virginia's multimedia rights contract with IMG. Why can colloidal silver turn your skin blue? However, now that the Fugate gene pool is more diverse, there is less need for this treatment, as fewer blue children are being born. Learn how your comment data is processed. Everyone knew the blue Fugates were healthy people. Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? How far from Flatwoods , ky? Population: 18,763Bars per capita: 6th in West VirginiaFishing/bait shops per capita: 4thMobile home parks per capita: 5th. More than a cent. Elkins is way out in the middle of nowhere south of Morgantown, at the base of the Appalachians. Published. Had you guys just ditched school even more, you might have won this whole thing. Cawein cheers their bad luck not out of malice but out of a deep respect for the blue people of Troublesome Creek. Methemoglobin levels over 50% may result in seizures, coma, and death. The reasons for this almost have to do entirely with coal. Its located along the Ohio way, way out on Route 250, so you know the locals here have lots of free reign to shoot stuff, blow things up and mud to their hearts content. In another neighborhood of this rust-belt city of 46,000, Pam and Ted Keesee have their own. Her lips were as dark as a bruise. The condition that made the Fugates blue causes large amounts of methemoglobin (which is a blue type of hemoglobin) to circulate in the blood. Dennis 4 Comments. Because of the dispersion of fluids, the solution only lasts for about a day so the carrier would have to drink a serving every day. Upon further research, I saw that the original story was based on a specific family that was said to be suffering from blue-tinted skin. Chapter 1: The Climate of Post-War America Chapter 2: West Virginia - The Violent Heritage Chapter 3: Political Maneuvering Chapter 4: The Creative Act of 1919 Chapter 5: Getting Organized PART II Chapter 6: The Mine Wars, 1919-1929 Chapter 7: Depression and Recovery, 1929-1939 Chapter 8: War Service, 1939-1949 Well, there are more intriguing blue things in Kentucky than just the moon. West Virginia History Timeline. West Virginia's population has grown very slowly since the 1950s, at many times losing people . Genetic Causes Rachel was leaning against the wall. Using Yelp and Google Maps, this is the criteria we used: Note: For the sake of getting reliable numbers, we counted places within a citys border, as well as within a short driving distance. The expedition descended that river to Peter's Falls on the future Virginia-West Virginia border and claimed for England all the land drained by the New River and its tributaries. Google Maps, Cowboy Up Bar, Bluefield, WV. 2017-2018 Blue Book Frontice (p. I-VIII) Section 1: Executive (p. 1-330) Section 2: Legislative (p. 331-508) The female's primary color is light cinnamon with darker-colored wings. The 76-year-old diva used the less than divine choice of words for the Mountain State in a Twitter against Sen. Joe Manchin torpedoing President Biden's multitrillion-dollar spending plans. Legend has it that Martin himself may have had a blue tinge to his skin, but not the dark blue color of later Fugates. When Benjy was born with purple skin, his relatives told the perplexed doctors about his great grandmother Luna Fugate. By 1850, approximately half of Kanawha County's slaves worked in the salt industrymany mined coal to fuel the furnaces. And by God, they didnt have the enzyme diaphorase. Sometimes they married first cousins. Regardless, this place might be the whitest, redneckest of them all. A fellow by the name of John E. Stacy spotted Luna at Sunday services of the Old Regular Baptist Church back before the century turned. So I brought back the new blood and set up my enzyme assay, Cawein continued. Oh, and they had blue skin. Archives of Internal Medicine, April, 1964.2. Where people wear camo to church. Cawein, Madison, et. In fact, change is seen as a negative to many West Virginians and disruptive to their way of life. Blue human aren't possible. It has nothing to do with melanin, the amino acid that gives people darker skin tones. T he West Virginia senator Joe Manchin has emerged as one of the biggest stumbling blocks to the passing of Joe Biden's ambitious domestic agenda, declaring he will vote against a key voting. Once he had the enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue sprang to Caweins mind as the perfectly obvious antidote. She lives alone in one of the. Typically, the blue is isolated to one part of the body. Please copy/paste the following text to properly cite this HowStuffWorks.com article: Dave Roos The mystery behind the astonishing picture of the Fugates, which has been baffling people for years, appears to have finally been solved. I'm going to assume that by blu. He had to drive eight hours back to Hazard to search out the Ritchies, who lived in a tapped-out mining town called Hardburly. yes, saw that years ago, colloidal silver, damn asshole medias, just state facts, you can prove., thanks for this honest reply. For more than a century, these Appalachian families passed along an exceedingly rare genetic blood condition that turned their skin a disarming shade of blue. Madison Cawein began hearing rumors about the blue people when he went to work at the University of Kentuckys Lexington medical clinic in 1960. The marriage of one of their blue boys, Zachariah, to his mothers sister triggered the line of succession that would result in the birth, more than 100 years later, of Benjy Stacy. In online research, there was no mention made of "blue" people as recorded in the genealogy book, The Fugate Family of Russell County Virginia, published in 1986, but it has been confirmed in the Fugate discussions on the Genforum. The couple had eight children, including Luna. It doesnt mean the condition is gone from the family; theres a chance another child could be born with it, but the incidents of it should be fewer and farther between in the modern era. Correction, June 9, 2008: The article originally stated that a handful of states allow marriages between first cousins. That five-star symbol is the same as the one on the Friendly City flagwhich is drawing approval well outside of West Virginia. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Maryland and Virginia to the east, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. 702 ft (214 m) Time zone: UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) Summer : UTC-4 (EDT) GNIS ID: 1549599: Blue is an unincorporated community in Tyler County, West Virginia, United States. his wife happened to be a carrier for the gene, so in turn about half of their children were blue. Patrick was all hunched down in the hall. The Fugate family intermarried with a neighbouring family for generations, which led to a relatively pure gene pool, often including the met-H gene. Studying the problem, Cawein figured out that he could convert methemoglobin to hemoglobin without the enzyme. Theres lots of trucks in Grafton, WV. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. There are even video games about rednecks. Bluefield State is committed to being the region's leading institution of higher education. Stereotypes about West Virginian breeding practices have long been linked to the states poverty. Matt Harvey Dan Cunningham was born Jan. 16, 1850, in Jackson County. When young people started moving away from the farms surrounding Troublesome Creek in the mid-20th century, they took their recessive blue genes with them. On a side note, some people on social media have shared images of another famous blue person, Paul Karason, dubbed by some as "Papa Smurf . Where is this area located in eastern KY? He left the Fugates with a supply of the methylene blue in pill form, as it must be taken regularly to keep the skin a normal color, by continually eliminating the mis-colored hemoglobin. They were really embarrassed about being blue, he said. Lives in the south or midwest (or West Virginia), Walmarts, Golden Corrals, Bass Pro Shops, and Dollar Generals nearby. Theyre normal people theyre good people. They went over to Patrick and Rachel Ritchies house and injected each of them with 100 milligrams of methylene blue. Stacy courted her, married her, and moved over from Troublesome Creek to make a living in timber on her daddys land. Howells Pawn and Guns, New Martinsville, WV. Scotts Alaskans seemed to match Caweins blue people. The methaemoglobinaemia condition, or met-H, reduces someones ability to carry oxygen in the blood, leaving it darker than the colour typically found in veins. In the Inuit communities, scientists had pinpointed the problem, a deficiency of an enzyme that converted methemoglobin to hemoglobin. One of the supermarket tabloids once sent a reporter to find out about the blue people, and she was distressed with his preoccupation with intermarriages. His two room log cabin sits in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, the West Virginia were like redneck. An iron atom the boys father, explained this rust-belt city of 46,000, and! 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