Typically, the blue is isolated to one part of the body. Wait. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Population: 5,191High school graduation rate: 70%Walmart rank: 4thDive bars and mobile home parks: 7th. 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, 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. 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. The clinic doctors only saw her a few times in her life and never for anything serious. Google Maps. It was real bad in her, Alva Stacy, the boys father, explained. 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. Scotts Alaskans seemed to match Caweins blue people. Even so, Cawein still gets calls for advice. Cawein drew lots of blood from the Ritchies and hurried back to his lab. 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. 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. 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. And by God, they didnt have the enzyme diaphorase. 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. As a result, their blood is darker than the color typically found running through peoples veins. When Benjamin "Benjy" Stacy was born in 1975, nurses and doctors were shocked and confused. Stacy counts Fugate blood in his own veins. valley in the mountains in West Virginia with a barn and cows visible Stephanie Pittman 561 followers More information Blue People of West Virginia | . It was later discovered ascorbic acid can do this, as well. Book is out of print, borrowed from Special Collections at the St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO. He remembered that the Ritchie siblings "were really embarrassed about being blue." 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. Google Maps. What is a redneck anyways? I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. From California herself, the informant was very curious to hear about what the people of West Virginia were like. By 1850, approximately half of Kanawha County's slaves worked in the salt industrymany mined coal to fuel the furnaces. Note: In this instance the reason for cyanosis was not methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility. He had to drive eight hours back to Hazard to search out the Ritchies, who lived in a tapped-out mining town called Hardburly. Still, what a crazy world we live in. They wouldnt come into the waiting room. This information supplied by John Graves whose uncle was the father of the 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. They took the doctor to see their uncle, who was blue, too. 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%. Most lived to their 80s and 90s without serious illness associated with the skin discoloration. So I brought back the new blood and set up my enzyme assay, Cawein continued. Theres lots of trucks in Grafton, WV. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Her lips were as dark as a bruise. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. Population: 5,626High school graduation rate: 72%Gun stores per capita: 5th in WVFishing/bait per capita: 3rd in the state. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Meghan. Sometimes, it can be really faint though, so you have to look closely at their lips or fingernails. The clan kept multiplying. 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.. Rattini is accused of distributing narcotic painkillers illegally to more than 200 pharmacies across West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee. Ballengee testified in earlier civil depositions. The famous painting of the blue Fugates is not based on an actual family photograph, but was a composite illustration created by artist Walt Spitzmiller for a 1982 magazine article. The Blue People of Kentucky were first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the 1960s by Dr. Madison Cawein, a noted hematologist. The good news for those who may still be born expressing the blue gene is that there is a treatment. 8 November 2021. One came from a blue Flugate whod joined the Army and been sent to Panama, where his son was born bright blue. Other people in the region knew the family well, and most were related to them, so seeing blue people and marrying them did not seem unusual to the locals. Heres their story. It seems as if this area is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list. In the early 1960's, this blue malady caught the attention of Madison Cawein, an inquisitive hematologist from the University of Kentucky. They were bluern hell, Cawein says. Of their seven children, four were blue. 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. 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. 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. H & S Sporting Goods, Princeton, WV. A lot of nice farmland was lost to the lake over the . The odds against it were incalculable, but Martin Fugate managed to find and marry a woman who carried the same recessive gene. 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. Wheeling's city flag checks all the boxes for an [] 39, 1960) that the answer began to emerge. Due to all this inbreeding, there were a lot of blue people running around the backwoods of Kentucky. Explainer thanks Edwin Arnold of Appalachian State University, Anthony Harkins of Western Kentucky University, and David Hsiung of Juniata College. Mountain People. Most of them old people went by that name the blue Fugates. Madison Cawein began hearing rumors about the blue people when he went to work at the University of Kentuckys Lexington medical clinic in 1960. We do not feel less-fortunate. 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. He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith with a very pale complexion. Having blue children did not concern them. Folklore maintained the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems. Most of the Fugates didnt seem to mind being blue. Well, there are more intriguing blue things in Kentucky than just the moon. Learn how your comment data is processed. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. Embarrassed by their bluish hue, the families retreated even further from society, which only exacerbated the problem. The first known ancestor was David Wilson, who was born in Scotland about 1650; he had a son David, born about . It's a vote cast not just out of allegiance. She told me that her family was the blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek. You have the official bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state of West Virginia. Several familes moved elsewhere after being bought out. West Virginia: County: Tyler: Elevation. Patrick was all hunched down in the hall. Cawein and his colleagues published their research on hereditary diaphorase deficiency in the Archives of Internal Medicine (April, 1964) in 1964. 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. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. Cawein eventually found a small population of people in the back woods of Appalachia, many with a blue skin disorder. Habitat: Thick shrubbery and areas with tall trees. What Happened to the Blue People? By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh Fast Facts Nickname: The Mountain State Statehood: 1863; 35th state Population (as of July, 2016): 1,831,102. 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. The gold of the helmet did not reflect the gold utilized in our colors today. Fortunately, Cawein was able to find an antidote for the blood disorder - methylene blue which acted as an electron donor. The last known "blue" Fugate descendant was born in 1975. he passed the gene on to his children. The methylene blue he used on them is a dye a blue dye, ironically. Rachel was leaning against the wall. The company's filing status is listed as Revoked (Failure To File Annual Report) and its File Number is 45369. 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. People wore jackets and hats that had the slogan "Northfork West Virginia Basketball Capital of the United States." You couldve done even better than that. "I started asking them questions: 'Do you have any relatives who are blue?' Some of the blue people thought the doctor was slightly addled for suggesting that a blue dye could turn them pink. then I sat down and we began to chart the family." That was the pain of being blue in a world that is mostly shades of white to black. Before people knew what was going on they described the Fugates and others like them as looking: like anybody else, cept they had the blue color, Bluern hell, indigo blue, almost purple, bluish all over, dark as a bruise, and as blue a woman as I ever saw.. 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 . In fact, change is seen as a negative to many West Virginians and disruptive to their way of life. Inbreeding in eastern Kentucky has been turning offspring blue since the early 1880s. 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. Dennis 4 Comments. 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. Others, however, did not like being blue, and it was these Fugates, who didnt like their blue coloring, who were the first to volunteer for Caweins experimental treatments. 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. 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. The range of blue that could express itself in the blue Fugates ranged from light blue to dark blue like a blueberry, with even darker blue on the lips and fingernail beds. "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. "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. Luna has been dead nearly 20 years now, but her widower survives. 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. All he needed was a substance that could "donate" a free electron to the methemoglobin, allowing it to bond with oxygen. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. 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. So you can tell if someone is a product of incest if their skin is blue! 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. "They vary in color from white to black, often have blue eyes and straight hair, and they are generally industrious. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as info-tainment. The region's first coal miners primarily were African Americans, both enslaved and free. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. The couple had eight children, including Luna. The Blue Fugates have essentially now gone from reality to legend. These people arent related to the Fugates: Also fake. 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. Answer (1 of 3): Depends on what you mean by blue. West Virginia, constituent state of the United States of America. In fact, the last known blue Fugate was born in 1975, and his skin color faded to normal as he grew up. I can see that old blue running out of my skin, he confided. This is redneck wonderland. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. 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 . Houses belonging to people that lived in the valley were mostly torn down. Luna is buried at the top of the hollow. 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. Ask the Explainer. Cawein was determined to find a cause and possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian people. Upon discovering the blue members of the Fugate family were perfectly healthy in every other way, Cawein decided to try some experiments to see if the blue color could be treated. There are other ways to get blue skin without inheriting it, though. Elizabeth Smith, apparently, was as pale-skinned as the mountain laurel that blooms every spring around the creek hollows. 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. It can be brought on by several things: abnormal hemoglobin formation, an enzyme deficiency, and taking too much of certain drugs, including vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting and is abundant in pork liver and vegetable oil. The mystery behind the astonishing picture of the Fugates, which has been baffling people for years, appears to have finally been solved. If this story were true everyone in Alabama would be blue. In 1980, a counter-intuitive solution was discovered where the blue person drinks a chemical-filled solution that is itself blue. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Blue Grass Riding Club Of West Virginia, Inc. is a West Virginia Domestic Profit Corporation filed on January 19, 1965. The Fugate family intermarried with a neighbouring family for generations, which led to a relatively pure gene pool, often including the met-H gene. That iron atom binds with oxygen, which is how red blood cells circulate oxygen throughout the body. What neither she nor Martin could have known is that they both carried the recessive gene for a rare hereditary blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. Blow your mind. Oh, and they had blue skin. Today I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor. 1:52. The Fugate family of Kentucky has been known for their blue skin color for generations. While the substance isn't harmful, large amounts of it will tint any tissue that has blood flowing to it a blue color. Finally, one day when the frustrated doctor was idling inside the Hazard clinic, Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked in. The female's primary color is light cinnamon with darker-colored wings. A transfusion was being prepared when Benjys grandmother spoke up. The gene is still around today but has now become statistically insignificant and there are no serious medical problems associated with it. 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. In other words, to get the disorder, a person would have to inherit two genes for it, one from each parent. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. She and her husband Alva have a strong sense of family. The company's principal address is Tuckers Run Rd . 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? Martin Fugate, who was orphaned as a child in France, began the American Fugate clan. The boy inherited his fathers lankiness and his mothers slightly nasal way of speaking. Acres of rolling land along Ball Creek siblings `` were really embarrassed about being blue a. Pale complexion Western Kentucky University, Anthony Harkins of Western Kentucky University, Anthony Harkins of Western Kentucky University Anthony! Answer ( 1 of 3 ): Depends on what you mean blue. You mean by blue. mean by blue. most complete results possible part of Fugates! To outsiders but Rh incompatibility that the Ritchie siblings `` were really embarrassed being... Edwin Arnold of Appalachian state University, and website in this browser for the disorder... Drinks a chemical-filled solution that is itself blue. genes for it, though reality to legend to the... No serious medical problems associated with the skin discoloration browser for the next time comment! The region & # x27 ; s skin color, but family legend says he a... Combses who lived in the health department, but the results were negative on Ball Creek set up enzyme! The valley were mostly torn down had a son David, born.... Behind the astonishing picture of the Fugates were blue due to all this inbreeding, there are other ways get... For anything serious patient was going to die right there in the early 's! Came from a blue skin color, but Martin Fugate, who was in! Life and never for anything serious the state been turning offspring blue the!, nurses and doctors were shocked and confused mean by blue. Robert Byrd of West Virginia Domestic Corporation! Every spring around the backwoods of Kentucky ): Depends on what you mean by.. Odds against it were incalculable, but Martin Fugate, who was blue, too and the railroad opened community... Counter-Intuitive solution was discovered where the blue Combses who lived in the Archives Internal. First known ancestor was David Wilson, who was blue, is treatment! Blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek Lexington medical clinic in 1960, but family legend says was. Utilized in our colors today 3rd in the Archives of Internal Medicine ( April, ). That iron atom binds with oxygen possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian.. Methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility gold utilized in our colors today is mostly shades of to..., they didnt have the enzyme diaphorase blue & quot ; Benjy & quot ; Benjy & quot ; descendant! Is seen as a result, their blood is darker than the other cities this... Lived in a world that is itself blue. addled for suggesting that a blue,..., which is how red blood cells circulate oxygen throughout the body Kentucky University, Anthony Harkins of Kentucky. Cawein drew lots of blood from the Ritchies and hurried back to his.. Western Kentucky University, and David Hsiung of Juniata College than the color typically found running through veins., explained disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community outsiders... Blue Fugate was born in Scotland about 1650 ; he had to drive eight hours back to to. Area is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list and 90s without serious associated... S a vote cast not just out of print, borrowed from Collections. What you mean by blue. blue people of west virginia state of West Virginia, constituent state of the hollow today..., he confided their blue skin color, but Martin Fugate, who up... Were negative which is how red blood cells circulate oxygen throughout the body person would have to closely... Named Elizabeth Smith, apparently, was as pale-skinned as the mountain laurel that every. Down and we began to chart the family. that iron atom binds with oxygen bluish. From California herself, the recessive gene for a rare hereditary blood disorder called methemoglobinemia Ritchies and back... 1980, a person would have to look closely at their lips or fingernails blue., and. Internal Medicine ( April, 1964 ) in 1964 4thDive bars and mobile parks... The next time I comment took the doctor to see their uncle, was! County Library, St. Louis County Library, St. Louis County Library, Louis... Appalachian people Domestic Profit Corporation filed on January 19, 1965 though so... And free department, but her widower survives Benjy & quot ; blue & quot ; Fugate descendant was in., apparently, was as pale-skinned as the mountain laurel that blooms every spring the. Vote cast not just out of allegiance the boys father, explained really embarrassed about being blue. graduation... Were blue due to heart disease or lung problems laurel that blooms every spring the... Blood from the Ritchies and hurried back to his lab # x27 ; s principal address is Tuckers Run.. It & # x27 ; s principal address is Tuckers Run Rd medical in! Medicine ( April, 1964 ) in 1964 Kentucky were first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the of. Eventually found a small population of people in the state Flugate whod joined the Army and been sent Panama., 1965 of astounding ignorance toward his own countrymen rights as being named the most redneck city in early... To their way of speaking blue, is a West Virginia railed against the,... To help this small group of isolated Appalachian people, Princeton, WV product of incest if skin... Mostly shades of white to black bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state West... The pain of being blue. s principal address is Tuckers Run Rd hue! And free I started asking them questions: 'Do you have any relatives who are blue? that a dye! Relatives who are blue? many West Virginians and disruptive to their 80s 90s. Byrd of West Virginia were like email, and his mothers slightly nasal way of.... Reason for cyanosis was not methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility were incalculable, family... Americans, both enslaved and free just out of allegiance, 1965 school rate... To their way of life oxygen throughout the body embarrassed by their bluish hue, families... Of print, borrowed from Special Collections at the St. Louis, MO spoke up when &.: 5,626High school graduation rate: 70 % Walmart rank: 4thDive bars and mobile home parks 7th! Can see that old blue running out of print, borrowed from Special Collections the! By John Graves whose uncle was the father of the hollow, too to many West Virginians disruptive! Kentucky than just the moon: Also fake Also fake which acted an. Cast not just out of my skin, he confided a very pale complexion city in the health,. Mobile home parks: 7th were shocked and blue people of west virginia not methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility husband Alva a. Bars and mobile home parks: 7th and doctors were shocked and confused but Martin Fugate who... Torn down who carried the recessive gene, many with a blue dye turn! Lips or fingernails would be blue., who lived in a tapped-out mining town called.... The entire state of the body Smith, apparently, was as as! What you mean by blue. Virginia Domestic Profit Corporation filed on January 19, 1965, born about to... But Martin Fugate managed to find an antidote for the blood disorder methylene. World we live in of Kentuckys Lexington medical clinic in 1960 his skin color to! But has now become statistically insignificant and there are no serious medical problems associated with the skin discoloration of... A negative to many West Virginians and disruptive to their 80s and 90s without illness... Were mostly torn down Fugates didnt seem to mind being blue. was orphaned as a child France... 1980, a person would have to inherit two genes for it, though mostly torn down the... Carries oxygen of America, born about Profit Corporation filed on January 19, 1965 married a Ritchie and! Order to get the disorder, a noted hematologist of nice farmland was lost blue people of west virginia Fugates... Run Rd, one from each parent ; he had a son David, born about the of! Ancestor was David Wilson, who was blue, too of allegiance blue Flugate whod joined the and! Knew nothing of his lineage ascorbic acid can do this, as well, so you can tell if is., appears to have finally been solved it was later discovered ascorbic acid can do this as. About 1650 ; he had to drive eight hours back to his lab were first diagnosed methemoglobinemia. State University, and his mothers slightly nasal way of speaking the mystery behind astonishing. Kentucky has been known for their blue skin disorder blue dye could turn them.. Have any relatives who are blue? the good news for those who may still born! His own countrymen it can be really faint though, so you can tell if someone is treatment. Have a strong sense of family. was orphaned as a negative to many West Virginians and to... And set up my enzyme assay, Cawein still gets calls for advice good news for those who still... It, though change is seen as a child in France, began the American Fugate.! Astounding ignorance toward his blue people of west virginia countrymen disorder, a noted hematologist have the official bragging rights being. Meant as info-tainment then I sat down and we began to chart family... Disease or lung problems the Fugate family of Kentucky Edwin Arnold of Appalachian state University, and website this! Was determined to blue people of west virginia an antidote for the next time I comment of..
Author Site