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. Faris, David. The odds against it were incalculable, but Martin Fugate managed to find and marry a woman who carried the same recessive gene. 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. There are other ways to get blue skin without inheriting it, though. When West Virginia University decided to put "Black Lives Matter" decals on the back of their football helmets, the reaction by the people of . The enzyme eventually builds to normal levels in most children and to almost normal levels in those like Benjy, who carry one gene. The small coal mining town in McDowell County received national attention. 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 condition that made the Fugates blue causes large amounts of methemoglobin (which is a blue type of hemoglobin) to circulate in the blood. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. Ask the Explainer. Princeton is located down on I-77, before you make the climb into Virginia. The condition that made the Fugates blue causes large amounts of methemoglobin (which is a blue type of hemoglobin) to circulate in the blood. Zach took the doctor even farther up Copperhead Hollow to see his Aunt Bessie Fugate, who was blue. At last they were free of their "blue" shade and were no longer embarrassed. Definitely not a poaching bunch, these Hurricane rednecks. Most of them old people went by that name the blue Fugates. 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. We use data, analytics, and a sense of humor to determine the dirt on places across the country. by Cathy TrostScience82, November, 1982. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. 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. When asked ahout it, he shakes his head and stares steadfastly ahead. When Two Strangers Lost the Genetic Lottery Martin Fugate arrived in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky in 1820. West Virginia History Timeline. Come on, Grafton rednecks. Inbreeding in eastern Kentucky has been turning offspring blue since the early 1880s. The state capital is Charleston. 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. It is documented that Fugates were born in the colonies in the mid 1600's but the original progenitor has not been confirmed. The Fugates are of French Huguenot descent, with the original immigrant ancestor coming over from France in about 1820. A nearby family who the early Fugates married into quite extensively also carried the gene. Still, what a crazy world we live in. It was hard to get out, so they intermarried, says Dennis Stacy, a 51-year-old coal miner and amateur genealogist who has filled a loose-leaf notebook with the laboriously traced blood lines of several local families. 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. In people with methemoglobinemia, the skin appears blue because the veins beneath the skin are coursing with dark blue blood. by F. William Sunderman, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia PA, 1964. Population: 10,486Mobile home parks in area: 3rd in WVBars per capita: 3rdGun stores per capita: 5th in West Virginia. One relative describes her as blue all over, and another calls Luna the bluest woman I ever saw.. Which means lots of weekend warriors probably live here; its the families that have boats and who book nice family hunting trips. 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 Ridge was reached in 1670, and in 1671 another expedition encountered the first westward-flowing stream, the New River, in southwestern Virginia. Got a question about todays news? 20 Fine Arts Drive, Morgantown, WV 26506. https://artmuseum.wvu.edu. 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. There are even video games about rednecks. Scotts Alaskans seemed to match Caweins blue people. The Fugate family didnt leave the area for generations, continually intermarrying with relatives. As three bald and blue men explore our world, together we'll discover music, laughter and surprises at every turn. Blue Man Group will rock your world. Well, there are more intriguing blue things in Kentucky than just the moon. 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. Elkins Journeez Bar, Elkins, WV. 15,898 100 A Cinephile's Guide to Biographical Films. What is a redneck anyways? 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. Chasing Chains, LLC. 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. Laughing, the Informant launched into a story of the West Virginia Blue People, a story about a genetic condition the resulted from intermarriage. When Benjamin "Benjy" Stacy was born in 1975, nurses and doctors were shocked and confused. 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. If the blue people did have methemoglobinemia, the next step was to find out the cause. Blow your mind. 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. Having blue children did not concern them. Elkins is way out in the middle of nowhere south of Morgantown, at the base of the Appalachians. Fortunately, Cawein was able to find an antidote for the blood disorder - methylene blue which acted as an electron donor. On a hypothesis, he gave a substance called methylene blue to family members who were willing to take it. They were like any other 1800s family except theyliked inbreeding. 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 . 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. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. At 30%, nausea, difficulty breathing, and an elevated heart rate start to appear. What he got from Martin Fugate was dark blue skin. 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. He injected the Ritchie siblings with 100 milligrams of the blue dye and didn't have to wait long to see results. 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. They wouldnt come into the waiting room. 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 . You have the official bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state of West Virginia. This genetic defect comes from a rare recessive gene, so most people arent affected by it unless they happen to reproduce with another person who carries it. "For the first time in their lives, they were pink. The Fugate family intermarried with a neighbouring family for generations, which led to a relatively pure gene pool, often including the met-H gene. So close! 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. Scott, E.M. The relation of diaphorase of human erythrocytes to inheritance of methemolglobinemia, Journal of Clinical Investigation, 39, 1960.3. Such people tend to be very blue only at birth, probably because newborns normally have smaller amounts of diaphorase. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Explainer thanks Edwin Arnold of Appalachian State University, Anthony Harkins of Western Kentucky University, and David Hsiung of Juniata College. 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. 2019 Foreign-Born Population 30.2k people As of 2020, 1.64% of West Virginia residents (29.6k people) were born outside of the United States, which is lower than the national average of 13.5%. Many is more accurate since the practice is legal, or legal under certain circumstances, in more than 20 states. The Blue Fugates have essentially now gone from reality to legend. Born Jan. 16, 1869, in Marion County, Ephraim Franklin Morgan went on to become one of West Virginia's governors. Finding it ridiculous herself, the Informant told me that she still enjoys being a part of the joke. Cawein cheers their bad luck not out of malice but out of a deep respect for the blue people of Troublesome Creek. When Benjy was born with purple skin, his relatives told the perplexed doctors about his great grandmother Luna Fugate. The following piece was collected at a dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friends birthday. Fugates married other Fugates. Luna is buried at the top of the hollow. 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. 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. In fact, the last known blue Fugate was born in 1975, and his skin color faded to normal as he grew up. "They vary in color from white to black, often have blue eyes and straight hair, and they are generally industrious. By. By the end of this spectacular journey, you'll be saying "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED BUT I LOOOVED IT." Read more Blue Man Group 4,830 reviews This then turns the carriers blood into a normal red hue which is then reflected in a change in skin tone. Despite those incredible odds, this is exactly what happened with the Fugates. Some of the blue people thought the doctor was slightly addled for suggesting that a blue dye could turn them pink. 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. Martin Fugate was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on the wilderness banks of Troublesome Creek. When you look at the numbers, its clear that most of Moundsville is a buncha fun-lovin rednecks. Blue human aren't possible. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. the blue color was gone from their skin, the doctor said. 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 Derby Bar & Grill, Fairmount, WV. I couldnt tell you what caused it.. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. He concluded that inbreeding levels in Appalachia [are neither] unique [n]or particularly common to the region, when compared with those reported for populations elsewhere or at earlier periods in American history.. 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. Start your free trial today to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search. 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. Blue skin. Days of testing provided no answers; but then Benjy's grandmother told the doctor a story about the "blue" Fugates. In other words, to get the disorder, a person would have to inherit two genes for it, one from each parent. Exaggeration-prone outsiders. Due to the sheer number of things like bait shops, bars and mobile home parks in the area, its definitely crawling with rednecks. Cawein got lucky when a brother and sister named Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked into a Hazard County clinic. Cawein needed fresh blood to do an enzyme assay. One could inherit the gene, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene on to a child. Well, as you can imagine, I really examined them. It is almost certain that Martin was a descendant of the Fugate family of Russell County, Virginia and probably of French origin. Everyone knew the blue Fugates were healthy people. Dont freak out. I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. 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. The blue skin gene is a recessive gene that only appears when both parents are carriers of the gene. 2017-2018 Blue Book Frontice (p. I-VIII) Section 1: Executive (p. 1-330) Section 2: Legislative (p. 331-508) Benjy was a pretty big item in the hospital, his mother says with a grin. Regardless, this place might be the whitest, redneckest of them all. Several familes moved elsewhere after being bought out. 11 HINTS YOU MIGHT BE DESCENDED FROM ALIENS, FUGATES OF KENTUCKY: SKIN BLUER THAN LAKE LOUISE As My World Turns, If Your Skin Is Blue, Dont Marry Your Other Blue Shaded Relative interesting12, Daily News investigates: Mystery of family with blue skin solved | Bazaar Daily News, If Your Skin Is Blue, Don't Marry Your Other Blue Shaded Relative - interesting12. In normal people hemoglobin is converted to methemoglobin at a very slow rate. Films That People Feel Guilty for Not Seeing. The condition is called methemoglobinemia, which is a disorder that reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood and body tissues, therefore making the skin appear blue. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. 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. 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. They were bluern hell, Cawein says. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. You might actually call Hurricane home of the rednecks with paychecks. Rattini is accused of distributing narcotic painkillers illegally to more than 200 pharmacies across West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. 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. 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. Its nothing.. Cawein was determined to find a cause and possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian people. Researchers believe this to truly be the case, a result of the family suffering from a genetic condition called methemoglobinemia, which is an excess of methemoglobin in the red blood cells of the body. In 2019, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in West Virginia was 1.66%, meaning that the rate has been decreasing. Legend has it that Martin himself may have had a blue tinge to his skin, but not the dark blue color of later Fugates. One look at Luke was enough to get those doctors down here in a hurry, says Pendergrass, who joined Cawein to look for more blue people. Once he had the enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue sprang to Caweins mind as the perfectly obvious antidote. Sometimes, it can be really faint though, so you have to look closely at their lips or fingernails. 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. 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. Bluefield State is committed to being the region's leading institution of higher education. This is redneck wonderland. Cut off from contact with the wider population, they married cousins, aunts and other closely related kin, which greatly increased the odds of inheriting the condition. They were real, and they really were blue, thanks to a recessive genetic condition. For the record, West Virginia has strict anti-incest laws. Cawein packed his black bag and rounded up Nurse Pendergrass for the big event. Bunch, these Hurricane rednecks Sunderman, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia PA 1964! Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee to wait long to see results going to die right there in the entire of... 100 milligrams of the Fugate family didnt leave the area for generations, continually intermarrying relatives... 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