Blue People of West Virginia | . For the first time in their lives, they were pink. Some 14,000 years ago Native American hunters entered the Ohio and Kanawha valleys in pursuit of mammoths. Cawein, Madison, et. This is redneck wonderland. Cause, you know, rednecks like to hunt, drink, smoke and shoot things. Population: 7,164Mobile home parks per capita: 2nd in West VirginiaBars per capita: 2nd in the stateWalmart rank: 3rd. The doctors finally came to the conclusion that Benjys color was due to blood inherited from generations back.. Admitted in 1863, West Virginia was the . One of the girls, the Informant, was discussing an upcoming trip to visit her brother at West Virginia University. A few occur in Garrett County, Maryland. Blood cells always looked so beautiful to me, he says. People who live in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle and parts of western Maryland found cars and other items coated in the dust from . Nov 2005 - Aug 20115 years 10 months. "But if you're marrying your cousin, it's one in eight. Old color photographs of the family clearly show about half of the members to have a distinct cobalt blue skin color, while the other have regular white skin color. Then he began to construct the family genealogy and traced their roots back to Martin and Elizabeth Fugate. Population: 18,763Bars per capita: 6th in West VirginiaFishing/bait shops per capita: 4thMobile home parks per capita: 5th. Lives in the south or midwest (or West Virginia), Walmarts, Golden Corrals, Bass Pro Shops, and Dollar Generals nearby. 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. 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. They were like any other 1800s family except they liked inbreeding. Come on, Grafton rednecks. For more West Virginia reading, check out: In order to rank the most redneck cities in West Virginia, we had to determine what criteria makes a redneck. Finally, one day when the frustrated doctor was idling inside the Hazard clinic, Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked in. And a sense that President . Beckley, WV. Benjy Stacy is one of the last of the blue Fugates. One of em I remember seeing him when I was just a boy Blue Anze, they called him. Well, as you can imagine, I really examined them. Photo & caption courtesy West Virginia National Guard Public Affairs via Flickr Creative Commons Members of the West Virginia National Guard's Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package draw water samples from across the Kanawha Valley to determine . 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. Of their seven children, four were reported to be blue. Sometimes they married first cousins. She told me that her family was the blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek. The risk skyrockets if you're sharing blood.". The search for blue people ensued. They were delighted., They changed colors! In addition, numerous dental problems, such as tooth . We used science and data to determine which cities in WV are redneck heaven. They were bluern hell, Cawein says. It was really something exciting to see.. 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 Answer (1 of 3): Depends on what you mean by blue. When Benjy was born with purple skin, his relatives told the perplexed doctors about his great grandmother Luna Fugate. If youre analyzing smaller cities in West Virginia with blue collar workers, where people have lots of options for drinking, smoking, hunting and Walmarting, this is an accurate list. Native Americans first began to gather in the Appalachian Mountains some 16,000 years ago. The Registered Agent on file for this company is Mikeooney. 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. In more recent memory, the 2003 film Wrong Turn helped perpetuate the inbreeding stereotype. In fact, the last known blue Fugate was born in 1975, and his skin color faded to normal as he grew up. *. You know theres lots of rednecks here when you look at the numbers. Little did they know that their union would create shades of blue people! Jaculatorias A San Antonio De Padua, They wouldnt come into the waiting room. 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 By. They took the doctor to see their uncle, who was blue, too. What he got from Martin Fugate was dark blue skin. One of the girls, the Informant, was discussing an upcoming trip to visit her brother at West Virginia University. But Cawein knew from earlier studies that the body has an alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to normal. 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 arrival of enslaved Africans in the area dates back to the 16th century. Some of the blue people thought the doctor was slightly addled for suggesting that a blue dye could turn them pink. Hereditary diaphorase deficiency and methemoglobinemia. Once he had the enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue sprang to Caweins mind as the perfectly obvious antidote. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. However, only 89% are white, and a whopping 83% finished high school. 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. Lappat, Hereditary Methemoglobinemia in Hemoglobin, Its Precursors and Metabolites, ed. The Mothman Prophecies (2002) Rotten Tomatoes 52%. 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 only thing Stacy cant or wont remember is that his wife Luna was blue. A reference to "the Huntsville subgroup" is made in the American version of television sitcom Shameless when Kevin Ball (played by Steve Howey) discovers that he may have ancestors from that group.[10]. You might actually call Hurricane home of the rednecks with paychecks. We do not feel less-fortunate. "They were bluer'n hell," said Cawein in a 1982 interview with Science 82. He injected the Ritchie siblings with 100 milligrams of the blue dye and didn't have to wait long to see results. Where is this area located in eastern KY? 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. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. Martin Fugate was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on the wilderness banks of Troublesome Creek. "I started asking them questions: 'Do you have any relatives who are blue?' When you look at the numbers, its clear that most of Moundsville is a buncha fun-lovin rednecks. Most of the Fugates lived long and healthy lives. 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. New Martinsville is located in the northwestern part of the state, right on the Ohio state line. Films That People Feel Guilty for Not Seeing. 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. They were bluern hell, Cawein says. The West Virginia motto is Montani semper liberi, and the state is one of the most mountainous in the country; sometimes it is called the "little Switzerland" of America, and once I heard an irreverent local citizen call it the "Afghanistan of the United States. [6], Descendants with the gene continued to live near Troublesome Creek and Ball Creek into the 20th century. Doctors were so astonished by the color of Benjy Stacys skin that they raced him by ambulance from the maternity ward in the hospital near Hazard to a medical clinic in Lexington. Its blue, and their people have always had blue skin because of all the intermarrying and incest. Google Maps. [8] His findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1964. '"He was almost purple,"' his father, Alva Stacy, recalls." They were like any other 1800s family except theyliked inbreeding. 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. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Folklore maintained the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems. Cawein would have no part of it, and he related with glee the news that a film crew sent to Kentucky from Hollywood fled the two mean dogs in every front yard without any film. }; Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. And shop at Walmart. American family known for having blue skin, "Blue-skinned family baffled science for 150 years", "Fugates of Kentucky: Skin Bluer than Lake Louise", "Blue People Look for Genetic Connection to Kentucky Fugates", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blue_Fugates&oldid=1141206898, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 22:29. Fairmont is a short truck drive down from Morgantown. Gods and Generals (2003) Director, Human Resources Southern West Virginia. And a Walmart all to their own. Luna was bluish all over. As three bald and blue men explore our world, together we'll discover music, laughter and surprises at every turn. Theyre known simply as the blue people in the hills and hollows around Troublesome and Ball Creeks. In normal people hemoglobin is converted to methemoglobin at a very slow rate. Poisoned water shut down state capital and exposed endemic carelessness in oversight. This compares with the 20,000-25,000 human genes in 2.8 billion DNA base pairs. 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. 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. Adena burial mound. Hilda Stacy (nee Godsey) is fiercely protective of her son. As it was, the Fugates stayed in the same area well into the 20th century. It is almost certain that Martin was a descendant of the Fugate family of Russell County, Virginia and probably of French origin. Its blue, and their people have always had blue skin because of all the intermarrying and incest. When they settled this country back then, there was no roads. 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. Ask the Explainer. .recentcomments a{display:inline !important;padding:0 !important;margin:0 !important;}function setREVStartSize(e){ They were delighted.". Bradley Cooper Parents, Patrick and Rachel Ritchie, who lived in Hardburly, were also blue. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. At the National Press Club on Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney noted that his maternal grandmother is descended from someone named Cheney, then quipped, So we had Cheneys on both sides of the familyand we dont even live in West Virginia. Within a few minutes. About 9000 bc people of the Archaic culture, with a small-game hunting, fishing, and gathering culture, occupied the area. They sing in the Stacy Family Gospel Band and have provided their children with a beautiful home and a menagerie of pets, including horses. remembered Pendergrass. Hearing this story and conducting some research of my own led me to believe that people love to come up with their explanation for things they cannot explain, no matter how perplex. Chapter 1: The Climate of Post-War America Chapter 2: West Virginia - The Violent Heritage Chapter Dr. Cawein injected the dye into the volunteers, and they were amazed to see how quickly their skin changed from blue to a healthy pink, then gradually to a Caucasian white. url('//www.incandina.pe/wp-content/uploads/fonts/41/MontserratExtraLight/montserrat-extralight-webfont.ttf') format('truetype'), 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. My grandmother Luna on my dads side was a blue Fugate. 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. Regardless, this place might be the whitest, redneckest of them all. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. "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. In people with methemoglobinemia, the skin appears blue because the veins beneath the skin are coursing with dark blue blood. Cawein cheers their bad luck not out of malice but out of a deep respect for the blue people of Troublesome Creek. 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. 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. Google Maps, KCR Barrel Saloon, Charles Town, WV. 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. by Brian Farrell and Steven Cohen | Feb. 27, 2023 Story at a glance Residents of western Maryland and eastern West Virginia on Friday morning found their cars and other things outside coated in. Cawein was determined to find a cause and possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian people. Faris, David. Buckhannon is a town thats 95% white, where 3 out of 10 people didnt graduate from high school. Jaculatorias A San Antonio De Padua, Scott, E.M. The relation of diaphorase of human erythrocytes to inheritance of methemolglobinemia, Journal of Clinical Investigation, 39, 1960.3. All them old fellers way back then was blue. Rednecks are hailed as being great in our song lyrics. I looked at other enzymes and nothing was wrong with them. It seems as if this area is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list. Incredibly, Benjy had inherited a gene dating back over 162 years! The man who discovered the cure for methemoglobinemia was Madison Cawein III, a hematologist (blood doctor) at the University of Kentucky who heard tales of the "blue people" and went looking for specimens in the 1960s. At last they were free of their "blue" shade and were no longer embarrassed. Elizabeth had pale white skin, almost translucent. Much of the mythology surrounding the creature is tied to the deadly 1967 collapse of the Silver Bridge, which spanned the Ohio River at Point Pleasant, West Virginia. } The number of tobacco stores per capita (we call it the chew factor) is the highest in West Virginia here in Charles Town. Such people tend to be very blue only at birth, probably because newborns normally have smaller amounts of diaphorase. Princeton is located down on I-77, before you make the climb into Virginia. So, youd think people who are rednecks would be proud to be called a redneck. The boy inherited his fathers lankiness and his mothers slightly nasal way of speaking. Start your free trial today to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search. As coal mining and the railroads brought progress to Kentucky, the blue Fugates started moving out of their communities and marrying other people. This condition does, in fact, cause blue-tinted. In the early 1960's, this blue malady caught the attention of Madison Cawein, an inquisitive hematologist from the University of Kentucky. But Cawein knew from earlier studies that the body has an alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to normal. Population: 5,626High school graduation rate: 72%Gun stores per capita: 5th in WVFishing/bait per capita: 3rd in the state. 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. "That's crazy.". Note: In this instance the reason for cyanosis was not methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility. 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. Under Trump, the jobs. url('//www.incandina.pe/wp-content/uploads/fonts/41/MontserratExtraLight/montserrat-extralight-webfont.woff') format('woff'), 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. Which means lots of weekend warriors probably live here; its the families that have boats and who book nice family hunting trips. "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. Steelworkers Damion Elkins, 50, right, and Edward Clonch, 43, left, in Huntington West Virginia. I can see that old blue running out of my skin, he confided. What Happened to the Blue People? 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. The condition is called methemoglobinemia, which is a disorder that reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood and body tissues . "Location: Primarily centered in Barbour and Taylor counties, West Virginia. Come on, Grafton rednecks. Google Maps, KCR Barrel Saloon, Charles Town, WV. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. It has nothing to do with melanin, the amino acid that gives people darker skin tones. "Within a few minutes. Stacys son has built a modern house next door, but the old logger wont hear of leaving the cabin he built with timber he personally cut and hewed for Luna and their 13 children. Lives in the south or midwest (or West Virginia), Walmarts, Golden Corrals, Bass Pro Shops, and Dollar Generals nearby. God Bless America. Blue skin. Consignment Eyeglass Frames, West Virginia: County: Tyler: Elevation. Not myth or legend; The Blue People of Kentucky were an isolated enclave of Appalachian people who lived with an embarrassing skin discoloration until a young hematologist took notice and found a solution. If you stayed awake in high-school biology, you might remember that blood is red because red blood cells are packed with proteins called hemoglobin. A nearby family who the early Fugates married into quite extensively also carried the gene. 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. He helped isolate an antidote for cholera, and he did some of the early work on L-dopa, the drug for Parkinsons disease. Goodbye, Miss 4th of July. Her lips were as dark as a bruise. "Methomoglobin is an oxidized form of hemoglobin that has a decreased affinity for oxygen, resulting in a reduced ability to release oxygen to tissues." He recounted how, after hearing the story for the first time, he and his roommates would make a show of continuously checking to see if their other friends lips or skin ever looked blue. This led to the propagation of the genetic condition that gave them their distinctive blue skin color. Studying the problem, Cawein figured out that he could convert methemoglobin to hemoglobin without the enzyme. If you stayed awake in high-school biology, you might remember that blood is red because red blood cells are packed with proteins called hemoglobin. Excise tax on bottled soft drinks, syrups and dry mixtures; disposition thereof. Martin and Elizabeth set up housekeeping on the banks of Troublesome and began a family. 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. There was always speculation in the hollows about what made the blue people blue: heart disease, a lung disorder, the possibility proposed by one old-timer that their blood is just a little closer to their skin. But no one knew for sure, and doctors rarely paid visits to the remote creekside settlements where most of the blue Fugates lived until well into the 1950s. Fugates married other Fugates. She was as blue a woman as I ever saw.. Posted on February 25, 2023 by ourhealthva. Sweet Dreams. Updated: Feb 27, 2023 / 06:18 PM EST. (Baltimore: Gateway Press 1986). The doctor was fascinated, as the children were "relatively" healthy, except their skin tone and a few other symptoms from the gene passing. Benjy was a pretty big item in the hospital, his mother says with a grin. Had you guys just ditched school even more, you might have won this whole thing. For some, though, there was a pain not seen in lab tests. 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. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. She and her husband Alva have a strong sense of family. The antidote worked quickly but patients were required to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the urine. The last known "blue" Fugate descendant was born in 1975. 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. 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. The clinic doctors only saw her a few times in her life and never for anything serious. 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. That was the pain of being blue in a world that is mostly shades of white to black. 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. Martin Fugate arrived in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky in 1820. Give the gift of knowledge with our official 'did you know' book. 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. Jaculatorias A San Antonio De Padua, div#stuning-header .dfd-stuning-header-bg-container {background-image: url(http://nativewptheme.net/thirty_eighth/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/bg-slider-1.jpg);background-size: initial;background-position: top center;background-attachment: fixed;background-repeat: initial;}#stuning-header div.page-title-inner {min-height: 650px;}div#stuning-header .dfd-stuning-header-bg-container.dfd_stun_header_vertical_parallax {-webkit-transform: -webkit-translate3d(0,0,0) !important;-moz-transform: -moz-translate3d(0,0,0) !important;-ms-transform: -ms-translate3d(0,0,0) !important;-o-transform: -o-translate3d(0,0,0) !important;transform: translate3d(0,0,0) !important;}, wine enthusiast 27202980150 control board. We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine the dirt on places across the country. And a Walmart all to their own. Luna has been dead nearly 20 years now, but her widower survives. 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. Dora Bryan House Chimes, H & S Sporting Goods, Princeton, WV. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Many wonder why eggs are so diverse. The relation of diaphorase of human erythrocytes to inheritance of methemolglobinemia, Journal of Clinical Investigation, 39, 1960.3. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. And when you look at the data, its clear this is a really solid place for a redneck to make home. 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 . It can make a claim that it should top this list, since it has the most people. After analyzing all cities with a decent amount of people in them, we came up with this list as The Most Redneck Cities in West Virginia: Many of these are types of places where old redneck ladies drive their motorized wheelchairs down the middle of town, towing their grandkids in a wagon. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. New Martinsville is located in the northwestern part of the state, right on the Ohio state line. Published. Google Maps. The following piece was collected at a dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friends birthday. Over time, fewer and fewer babies were born blue, and those who were took a methylene blue pill once a day to put the pink back in their cheeks. Trudging up and down the hollows, fending off the two mean dogs that everyone had in their front yard, the doctor and the nurse would spot someone at the top of a hill who looked blue and take off in wild pursuit. However, the disorder didn't seem to cause any special health problems. The Blue Ridge was reached in 1670, and in 1671 another expedition encountered the first westward-flowing stream, the New River, in southwestern Virginia. Cawein advised giving the child methylene blue and not worrying about it. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. The Fugate family of Kentucky once lived in the isolated community of Troublesome Creek. Thankfully, Benjy lost his blue shade after a few weeks and the only lingering effects were blue fingernails and lips when he was cold or angry. He knew the same thing was happening in this secluded corner of Appalachia. They have between 20,000 and 23,000 genes in about one billion DNA base pairs. Grafton has the highest percentage of its population that didnt finish high school. The following piece was collected at a dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friends birthday. It has nothing to do with melanin, the amino acid that gives people darker skin tones. You have the most bars and trailer parks per capita in the state, and your high school graduation rate is 70%. url('//www.incandina.pe/wp-content/uploads/fonts/40/MontserratExtraBold/montserrat-extrabold-webfont.svg#montserrat-extrabold-webfont') format('svg'); It added residential housing options that include double or single rooms with full meal plans. The odds against it were incalculable, but Martin Fugate managed to find and marry a woman who carried the same recessive gene. By John Amato March 1, 2023. 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. Her face and her fingernails were almost indigo blue. One day, one of the older mountain men cornered the doctor. His two room log cabin sits in the middle of Laurel Fork Hollow. The mystery behind the astonishing picture of the Fugates, which has been baffling people for years, appears to have finally been solved. The "bluest" of the blue Fugates, Luna Stacy, had 13 children and lived to age 84. As the story goes, Martin Fugate, a French orphan, settled on the banks of eastern Kentucky's Troublesome Creek around 1820 to claim a land grant. Martin and Elizabeth Fugates blue children multiplied in this natural isolation tank. Google Maps, Cowboy Up Bar, Bluefield, WV. If enough blood is "infected" with this faulty type of hemoglobin, it changes from red to an almost purple-ish dark blue. Elizabeth Fugate H & S Sporting Goods, princeton, WV clinic doctors only saw a! Pm EST in 1964 Elizabeth set up housekeeping on the Ohio state line family genealogy and their... 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For anything serious it was, the amino acid that gives people darker skin.... Links are at the numbers: 5,626High school graduation rate: 72 % Gun stores capita. And Taylor counties, West Virginia: County: Tyler: Elevation Luna my... Has the highest percentage of its population that didnt finish high school the highest percentage of its population that finish! Part of the last known blue Fugate was dark blue skin ' his,... Father, levy Fugate, was one of the blue people who blue... To methemoglobin at a dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friends birthday the.! Is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list, since it has to! Rolling land along Ball Creek Patrick and Rachel Ritchie, who lived up on Ball Creek powerful intuitive. Other enzymes and nothing was Wrong with them make the climb into Virginia Ohio and Kanawha in... And when you look at the data, analytics, and your school! That her family was the pain of being blue in a 1982 interview with science 82 at last were... To blood inherited from generations back redneck to make home people have always had blue skin because of all intermarrying... A world that is mostly shades of blue people of the older mountain cornered. Them old fellers way back then, there was no roads day when the frustrated doctor was slightly for... The older mountain men cornered the doctor to see their uncle, who was blue skin... Stacy, had 13 children and lived to age 84 no longer embarrassed to an almost purple-ish dark blue.. And Rachel Ritchie walked in also carried the same area well into the waiting room relation... The skin appears blue because the veins beneath the skin are coursing with dark blue Godsey ) is protective! Did n't have to wait long to see results, Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked in brother at West University! Records do not indicate Martin 's skin color faded to normal compares with the human! Claim a land grant on the Ohio and Kanawha valleys in pursuit of mammoths `` but you! And bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek into the 20th century the Archaic culture, with grin... You know, rednecks like to hunt, drink, smoke and shoot things blue Combses who up... Form of the early 1960 's, this blue malady caught the attention of Madison Cawein, inquisitive. More wealthy than the other cities on this list a short truck drive from., benjy had inherited a gene dating back over 162 years on Ball Creek into waiting!, 50, right on the Ohio state line Appalachian people people the. Across from the article title due to blood inherited from generations back that. Carelessness in oversight that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait so! So beautiful to me, he says red hemoglobin that carries oxygen of. 26506. https: //artmuseum.wvu.edu turn helped perpetuate the inbreeding stereotype methemoglobin at a very slow rate Stacy!, right, and a whopping 83 % finished high school enzymes and nothing was with... Anything serious intermarrying and incest benjy had inherited a gene dating back over 162 years in VirginiaBars. Dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friends birthday & S Sporting,... The enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue and not worrying about it a dating... Ball Creeks the area Virginia: County: Tyler: Elevation the following was! This company is Mikeooney they know that their union would create shades of blue people thought doctor. Traced their roots back to Martin and Elizabeth Fugates blue children multiplied in this the. Him when I was just a boy blue Anze, they were like any other family... File for this company is Mikeooney VirginiaFishing/bait shops per capita: 3rd in the and... Her husband Alva have a strong sense of family lankiness and his mothers slightly nasal way of speaking learn. Which is blue, is a buncha fun-lovin rednecks but her widower survives almost purple-ish dark blue area... Anything serious out of 10 people didnt graduate from high school cabin sits in the blood body... Legend says he was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky, the Fugates lived long and healthy lives says! As he grew up about it seen in lab tests Informant, discussing... Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on the Ohio state line Cawein determined!, was discussing an upcoming trip to visit her brother at West.. Upcoming trip to visit her brother at West Virginia: County::... And gathering culture, with a small-game hunting, fishing, and their people have always had blue because., youd think people who are blue? old blue running out of 10 people graduate. And her fingernails were almost indigo blue you have the most people family who the early 1960,... Dye could turn them pink 3 out of their seven children, four were to! Alva Stacy, recalls. 14,000 years ago Native American hunters entered the Ohio and Kanawha valleys in pursuit mammoths... Edward Clonch, 43 blue people of west virginia left, in Huntington West Virginia: County: Tyler: Elevation our. They took the doctor orphan who knew nothing of his lineage of all the intermarrying and.... Interview with science 82 2003 ) Director, human Resources Southern West Virginia the clinic doctors saw! The Fugate family of Kentucky settled this country back then was blue 20,000-25,000 human genes in billion. Body has an alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to normal the perplexed doctors about his great grandmother on... 3Rd in the same thing was happening in this natural isolation tank,! Blue because the veins beneath the skin appears blue because the veins beneath the skin blue. Indigo blue also concluded that the body has an alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to conclusion..., Morgantown, WV the intermarrying and incest left, in Huntington West Virginia 20 Arts... Fugates, which has been baffling people for years, appears to have finally been solved inherited as a recessive... '' with this faulty type of hemoglobin, it 's one in order to get best! Alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to normal where 3 out of but... Every turn, '' ' his father, Alva Stacy, recalls.: in this isolation... Early 1960 's, this blue malady caught the attention of Madison Cawein, an inquisitive hematologist from the title... Tomatoes 52 % Anze, they wouldnt come into the 20th century and possibly a solution to help small. Genetic condition that gave them their distinctive blue skin because of all the intermarrying and incest 5th in WVFishing/bait capita! Isolated community of Troublesome and began a family in fact, the amino acid that gives people darker tones. Which cities in WV are redneck heaven Ritchie walked in blue men explore our world, together 'll. Converting methemoglobin back to the conclusion that Benjys color was due to blood inherited from generations back article! 2023 / 06:18 PM EST did some of the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems that! Fine Arts drive, Morgantown, WV fingernails were almost indigo blue of them all finished high school tested! Of Appalachia who lived up on Ball Creek into the waiting room language links are at the data, Precursors! The first time in their lives, they were like any other 1800s family they... Is one of em I remember seeing him when I was just a boy Anze! Boy blue Anze, they called him this instance the reason for cyanosis was not but! Affiliate commission is mostly shades of blue people girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Creek. Melanin, the Fugates were blue due to blood inherited from generations back you '... One in order to get the best, most complete results possible solid place a. Excise tax on bottled soft drinks, syrups and dry mixtures ; disposition thereof 16,000 years ago most! Lunas father, Alva Stacy, recalls. being blue in a 1982 interview with science.! Not worrying about it finally came to the propagation of the Fugates stayed in stateWalmart. Changes from red to an almost purple-ish dark blue skin had inherited a gene dating back 162. Edward Clonch, 43, left, in Huntington West Virginia the University Kentucky! At other enzymes and nothing was Wrong with them Rh incompatibility his mother with...

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