Despite those incredible odds, this is exactly what happened with the Fugates. Theyre known simply as the blue people in the hills and hollows around Troublesome and Ball Creeks. This then turns the carriers blood into a normal red hue which is then reflected in a change in skin tone. 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. Still, what a crazy world we live in. In most people, there is an enzyme present called diaphorase that converts methemoglobin back into a usable form of hemoglobin. We just have our own way of life. 5,600 views made by Rocco. Princeton is located down on I-77, before you make the climb into Virginia. 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. 2 Wait. type to search . As scientists discovered in the 1960s, the mutation that causes the Smurf-like skin is carried by a recessive gene, and it takes two people with that same gene to produce a blue child. 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. Because the Fugate family lived in such an isolated part of the Kentucky, they intermarried with a neighboring family for generations which led to a relatively pure gene pool where the met-H gene appeared much more frequently. Sometimes, it can be really faint though, so you have to look closely at their lips or fingernails. Inbreeding in eastern Kentucky has been turning offspring blue since the early 1880s. The lightness or darkness of the blue depends on the amount of the substance the person has circulating in them from birth. Films That People Feel Guilty for Not Seeing. 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. Most lived to their 80s and 90s without serious illness associated with the skin discoloration. 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. Got a question about todays news? Due to all this inbreeding, there were a lot of blue people running around the backwoods of Kentucky. 1995-2022 Ancestral Findings, LLC. The methylene blue he used on them is a dye a blue dye, ironically. As coal mining and the railroads brought progress to Kentucky, the blue Fugates started moving out of their communities and marrying other people. The enzyme eventually builds to normal levels in most children and to almost normal levels in those like Benjy, who carry one gene. The ZTF scans the entire Northern sky . 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. 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.. They went over to Patrick and Rachel Ritchies house and injected each of them with 100 milligrams of methylene blue. "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. Settling in the remote hills of Kentucky, there werent a lot of other people nearby, and marrying people who were closely related became common among the 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. According to the official dictionary definition of a redneck, and based on stereotypes that the internet says are true, using science to determine the most redneck cities in a state cant be too far off. When Benjamin "Benjy" Stacy was born in 1975, nurses and doctors were shocked and confused. 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. Of their seven children, four were reported to be blue. Apparently, it shows more easily when theyre cold!. The search for blue people ensued. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Maryland and Virginia to the east, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. Blue People of Kentucky Why the Fugate Family Had Blue SkinA Frenchman arrived in Kentucky in 1820, bringing with him his strange blue skin. Tests for abnormal hemoglobin were negative. Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginia's population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. al. But as Kentucky became more populated and more genes came into the Fugate family tree, there were far fewer children born blue. West Virginia Get facts and photos about the 35th state. In another neighborhood of this rust-belt city of 46,000, Pam and Ted Keesee have their own. Fear that more inflation will cost jobs. Theyre normal people theyre good people. Bluefield is only 75% white, and most of its residents finished high school. We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine the dirt on places across the country. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. Stereotypes about West Virginian breeding practices have long been linked to the states poverty. Legend has it that Martin himself may have had a blue tinge to his skin, but not the dark blue color of later Fugates. Some of us finished high school and became the "dreaded wife and mother"-as society portrays it. Finding it ridiculous herself, the Informant told me that she still enjoys being a part of the joke. How far from Flatwoods , ky? Its blue, and their people have always had blue skin because of all the intermarrying and incest. They wouldnt come into the waiting room. 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. You have the most bars and trailer parks per capita in the state, and your high school graduation rate is 70%. Some sources claim their are no blue . Theres a debate as to what percentage of Hurricane is white. Come on, Grafton rednecks. The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, . Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were blue; the recessive gene meant there was a 25 percent chance of each pregnancy resulting in a blue child. Such people tend to be very blue only at birth, probably because newborns normally have smaller amounts of diaphorase. That five-star symbol is the same as the one on the Friendly City flagwhich is drawing approval well outside of West Virginia. The area was never. And when you look at the data, its clear this is a really solid place for a redneck to make home. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. Bluefield State is committed to being the region's leading institution of higher education. Google Maps. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were "bright blue" according to Fugate family lore. So is the Walmart factor, which is the number of Walmarts per person. More than a cent. They just accepted it as a part of who they were. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. 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. THE town of Odd, West Virginia is a quiet, rural countryside, despite all the buzz surrounding the infamous inbred family, The Whittakers, who live within it. 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. New Martinsville is located in the northwestern part of the state, right on the Ohio state line. It is home to so much creativity, and has been a place of devastating poverty. No mention of his skin color is made in the early histories of the area, but family lore has it that Martin himself was blue. Within a few minutes. All rights reserved. Google Maps, KCR Barrel Saloon, Charles Town, WV. A mutated gene causes their bodies to build up a rare form of hemoglobin called methemoglobin that can't bond with oxygen. Her lips were as dark as a bruise. She also states that the union of Martin and Elizabeth were probably not the originators of the gene as their marriage took place too late. This is a map of the Appalachian mountains Source: Encyclopedia Britannica As you can see, they start in northern Georgia, continuing through most of the Eastern seaboard all the way up to New Brunswick, Canada. Luna Stacy possessed the good health common to the blue people, bearing at least 13 children before she died at 84. The blue skin gene is a recessive gene that only appears when both parents are carriers of the gene. February 16, 2012 by Tap Vann. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. It's true that, through the 19 th century, transportation networks developed slowly in the rugged, westernmost portion of Virginia (incorporated as West Virginia in 1863). Rednecks love to shoot their guns and fish, and there are a really high number of ammo stores and bait shops in the area, per person. By the time theyd get to the top, the person would be gone. Comet C/2022 E3 was first discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility, a public-private partnership aimed at a systematic study of the optical night sky. 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. 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. Green human are possible. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. That total makes West Virginia the 38th most populous state in the country. In alphabetical order, these counties are: Barbour, Berkeley, Boone, Braxton, Brooke, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Doddridge, Fayette, Gilmer, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hancock, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, Marshall, Mason, McDowell, Mercer, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Monroe, Morgan, Nicholas, Ohio, My grandmother Luna on my dads side was a blue Fugate. Stacy courted her, married her, and moved over from Troublesome Creek to make a living in timber on her daddys land. 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. Dont freak out. The odds against it were incalculable, but Martin Fugate managed to find and marry a woman who carried the same recessive gene. The American Heart Association had a clinic in Hazard, and it was there that Cawein met a great big nurse who offered to help. Then he began to construct the family genealogy and traced their roots back to Martin and Elizabeth Fugate. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. Admitted to the union as the 35th state in 1863, it is a relatively small state. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. Ask the Explainer. Google Maps, Cowboy Up Bar, Bluefield, WV. Most of the Fugates didnt seem to mind being blue. Besides the number of bars, mobile home parks and places to buy shotguns, its at the base of the hills, where you know the deer and turkey probably walk right into town. 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. By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh Fast Facts Nickname: The Mountain State Statehood: 1863; 35th state Population (as of July, 2016): 1,831,102. There are other ways to get blue skin without inheriting it, though. 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. Laughing, the Informant launched into a story of the West Virginia Blue People, a story about a genetic condition the resulted from intermarriage. Answer (1 of 3): Depends on what you mean by blue. Wheeling's city flag checks all the boxes for an [] Edit Old Gold & Blue Page 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. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as info-tainment. As three bald and blue men explore our world, together we'll discover music, laughter and surprises at every turn. Add to calendar. That was the pain of being blue in a world that is mostly shades of white to black. 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. Google Maps. So close! 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. You know theres lots of rednecks here when you look at the numbers. Diet: Insects, seeds, and grains. Matt Harvey Dan Cunningham was born Jan. 16, 1850, in Jackson County. 2022 Science Classroom Teacher Resources. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. The Fugate family of Kentucky once lived in the isolated community of Troublesome Creek. The region's first coal miners primarily were African Americans, both enslaved and free. Book is out of print, borrowed from Special Collections at the St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO. Yep, thats right. With Fugate blood on both his mothers and his fathers side, the boy could have received genes for the enzyme deficiency from either direction. Start your free trial today to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search. It was almost purple, his father recalls. The gene would most likely appear in an inbred line. Eventually, Cawein gained their trust and began taking blood samples. In fact, the last known blue Fugate was born in 1975, and his skin color faded to normal as he grew up. Lives in the south or midwest (or West Virginia), Walmarts, Golden Corrals, Bass Pro Shops, and Dollar Generals nearby. While in the hills, Cawein drove over to see Zach (Big Man) Fugate, the 76-year-old patriarch of the clan on Troublesome Creek. Today I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor. Fairmont is a short truck drive down from Morgantown. Once he had the enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue sprang to Caweins mind as the perfectly obvious antidote. Blood is also likely to be a chocolate brown color instead of bright red in patients with methemoglobinemia. They were like any other 1800s family except theyliked inbreeding. You could tell how much it bothered them to be blue.. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. Matt Harvey valley in the mountains in West Virginia with a barn and cows visible Stephanie Pittman 561 followers More information Blue People of West Virginia | . What is a redneck anyways? Days of testing provided no answers; but then Benjy's grandmother told the doctor a story about the "blue" Fugates. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. 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. The reasons for this almost have to do entirely with coal. blue people of west virginia December 17, 2021 sister act cast member dies comments The name refers to a specific set of families. 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. "I started asking them questions: 'Do you have any relatives who are blue?' He was born in the 1970s in a maternity ward of Hazard, Kentucky. The railroad didnt come through eastern Kentucky until the coal mines were developed around 1912, and it took another 30 or 40 years to lay down roads along the local creeks. The Fugate family intermarried with a neighbouring family for generations, which led to a relatively pure gene pool, often including the met-H gene. 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. 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. 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. "For the first time in their lives, they were pink. The gold of the helmet did not reflect the gold utilized in our colors today. 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