The good news for those who may still be born expressing the blue gene is that there is a treatment. 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. 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. One relative describes her as blue all over, and another calls Luna the bluest woman I ever saw.. Methemoglobin levels over 50% may result in seizures, coma, and death. The Fugate family of Kentucky once lived in the isolated community of Troublesome Creek. The condition that made the Fugates blue causes large amounts of methemoglobin (which is a blue type of hemoglobin) to circulate in the blood. 8 November 2021. Between 1880 and 1920, southern West Virginia's population grew from 93,000 to 446,000, due almost entirely to the coal industry. In the isolated hollows of rural Kentucky, they were known as the blue Fugates and the blue Combses. The American Heart Association had a clinic in Hazard, and it was there that Cawein met a great big nurse who offered to help. The number of tobacco stores per capita (we call it the chew factor) is the highest in West Virginia here in Charles Town. "There is a clan of partly-colored people in Barbour County often called Guineas, under the erroneous presumption that they are Guinea negroes," observed WV historian Hu Maxwell in the 1890s. The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, . Hereditary diaphorase deficiency and methemoglobinemia. Madison Cawein began hearing rumors about the blue people when he went to work at the University of Kentuckys Lexington medical clinic in 1960. Edit Old Gold & Blue Page Google Maps. In the Inuit communities, scientists had pinpointed the problem, a deficiency of an enzyme that converted methemoglobin to hemoglobin. It was later discovered ascorbic acid can do this, as well. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. Different spellings of the surname sometimes include "Fugett" and "Fugitt". A mutated gene causes their bodies to build up a rare form of hemoglobin called methemoglobin that can't bond with oxygen. Note: In this instance the reason for cyanosis was not methemoglobinemia but Rh incompatibility. Laurel Wheeler and family, Buena Vista, Rockbridge County, Virginia. Population: 18,763Bars per capita: 6th in West VirginiaFishing/bait shops per capita: 4thMobile home parks per capita: 5th. It was almost purple, his father recalls. Blue People of West Virginia | . That was the pain of being blue in a world that is mostly shades of white to black. The blood disorder is inherited as a simple recessive trait - meaning that to get the disorder, a person would have to inherit two genes, one from each parent. 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, 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. So, youd think people who are rednecks would be proud to be called a redneck. John Stacy still lives on Lick Branch of Ball Creek. martin fugate was blue from birth, which has nothing to do with inbreeding. Cawein is no stranger to eccentricities of the body. And a sense that President . The Northfork High School "Blue Demons" were a force to be reckoned with from 1971 to 1984, setting national records including most consecutive state championships. They just accepted it as a part of who they were. H & S Sporting Goods, Princeton, WV. Theyre prominently featured in reality television. Cawein cheers their bad luck not out of malice but out of a deep respect for the blue people of Troublesome Creek. Why can colloidal silver turn your skin blue? Elizabeth Smith, apparently, was as pale-skinned as the mountain laurel that blooms every spring around the creek hollows. But his first love, which he developed as an Army medical technician in World War II, was hematology. 2 '"He was almost purple,"' his father, Alva Stacy, recalls." "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. In more recent memory, the 2003 film Wrong Turn helped perpetuate the inbreeding stereotype. The doctor was recently approached by the producers of the television show Thats Incredible. They wanted to parade the blue people across the screen in their weekly display of human oddities. The state capital is Charleston. type to search . Cawein, Madison, et. Matt Harvey 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 like any other 1800s family except theyliked inbreeding. Blue human aren't possible. You have the most bars and trailer parks per capita in the state, and your high school graduation rate is 70%. He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith who had a very pale complexion and their union formed a genetic mutation that resulted in their descendants being born with blue skin. Having blue children did not concern them. In other words, to get the disorder, a person would have to inherit two genes for it, one from each parent. When asked ahout it, he shakes his head and stares steadfastly ahead. Published. 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. This led to the propagation of the genetic condition that gave them their distinctive blue skin color. By the time theyd get to the top, the person would be gone. Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? Diet: Insects, seeds, and grains. Normally diaphorase converts methemoglobin back to hemoglobin. Only adopted cousins are allowed to marry, while in Vermont, Virginia, and many other states, first cousins can tie the knot. Fear that more inflation will cost jobs. Faris, David. When West Virginia University decided to put "Black Lives Matter" decals on the back of their football helmets, the reaction by the people of . Many is more accurate since the practice is legal, or legal under certain circumstances, in more than 20 states. And by God, they didnt have the enzyme diaphorase. Many of us have college degrees, are nurses, teachers, preachers and well-educated women. Woodburn Hall at West Virginia University in Morgantown (old gold and blue are the official University colors); photo by Swimmerguy269 on Wikipedia (use permitted with attribution / share alike). Stacy recalls that his father-inlaw, Levy Fugate, was part of the family that showed blue. Population: 9,277High school graduation rate 73%Chew factor: 3Gun stores: 5th. They werent sick; it was just the way they look. Archives of Internal Medicine, April, 1964.2. Matt Harvey Dan Cunningham was born Jan. 16, 1850, in Jackson County. This brief history has been gleaned from old family records, correspondence with other members, and histories of Ritchie, Barbour, Harrison and Randolph Counties, West Virginia. Soon, the Fugates became known as the Blue Fugates of Kentucky. One could inherit the gene, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene on to a child. Wheeling's city flag checks all the boxes for an [] His lips and fingernails still turn a shade of purple-blue when he gets cold or angry a quirk that so intrigued medical students after Benjy's birth that they would crowd around the baby and try to make him cry. 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. People wore jackets and hats that had the slogan "Northfork West Virginia Basketball Capital of the United States." The company's filing status is listed as Revoked (Failure To File Annual Report) and its File Number is 45369. Methemoglobinemia is a blood condition, not a skin condition. A transfusion was being prepared when Benjys grandmother spoke up. Google Maps. You have the official bragging rights as being named the most redneck city in the entire state of West Virginia. If enough blood is "infected" with this faulty type of hemoglobin, it changes from red to an almost purple-ish dark blue. I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. Green human are possible. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. So I brought back the new blood and set up my enzyme assay, Cawein continued. Is there anything really wrong with being called a West Virginia redneck? Had you guys just ditched school even more, you might have won this whole thing. Sit back, relax, and read the amazing but true genetic tale of the Blue People of Kentucky. They were real, and they really were blue, thanks to a recessive genetic condition. 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. It is the color of oxygen-depleted blood seen in the blue veins just below the skin. Fugates married other Fugates. Activating it requires adding to the blood a substance that acts as an electron donor. Many substances do this, but Cawein chose methylene blue because it had been used successfully and safely in other cases and because it acts quickly. But as Kentucky became more populated and more genes came into the Fugate family tree, there were far fewer children born blue. Folklore maintained the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems. Stacy courted her, married her, and moved over from Troublesome Creek to make a living in timber on her daddys land. Intermarrying with people other than close relatives meant the likelihood of any Fugate descendant being born with the condition reduced. The female's primary color is light cinnamon with darker-colored wings. yes, saw that years ago, colloidal silver, damn asshole medias, just state facts, you can prove., thanks for this honest reply. 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. *. It has nothing to do with melanin, the amino acid that gives people darker skin tones. So close! The afflicted were embarrassed about their condition and adamant about talking to Cawein. The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, . The condition was clearly genetic, but the key for Cawein was reading reports of hereditary methemoglobinemia among isolated Inuit populations in Alaska where blood relatives often married. Eventually, Cawein gained their trust and began taking blood samples. Due to all this inbreeding, there were a lot of blue people running around the backwoods of Kentucky. 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. It reduced the brightness of the blue on their skin. Everyone knew the blue Fugates were healthy people. They were delighted., They changed colors! remembered Pendergrass. Well, as you can imagine, I really examined them. score: 5 of 27 (18%) required scores: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 list stats leaders vote Vote print comments. References The first known ancestor was David Wilson, who was born in Scotland about 1650; he had a son David, born about . It began whenMartin Fugate, aFrench orphan, settled on the banks of eastern Kentuckys Troublesome Creek to claim a land grant in the early 19th century. West By God is right. When they settled this country back then, there was no roads. Exaggeration-prone outsiders. 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. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were "bright blue" according to Fugate family lore. Yes, West Virginia is among the poorest if not the poorest state in the union as well as one of the most uneducated and least economically developed. And shop at Walmart. al. 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. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. But as Kentucky became more populated and more genes came into the Fugate family tree, there were far fewer children born blue. And a Walmart all to their own. by F. William Sunderman, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia PA, 1964. Within a few minutes. Cawein and his colleagues published their research on hereditary diaphorase deficiency in the Archives of Internal Medicine (April, 1964) in 1964. Cawein and his colleagues published their research on hereditary diaphorase deficiency in the isolated community of Troublesome Creek make. Perpetuate the inbreeding stereotype 70 % their trust and began taking blood samples well-educated! Has nothing to do with inbreeding but Rh incompatibility questions: do you have the most bars and trailer per... The condition reduced person: 5th in the Archives of Internal Medicine ( April, 1964 not skin. 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