blue people of west virginia

20 Fine Arts Drive, Morgantown, WV 26506. https://artmuseum.wvu.edu. They took the doctor to see their uncle, who was blue, too. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. Cawein was determined to find a cause and possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian people. Little Blue Run in Chester West Virginia is gone 8/8/2004: The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes about Little Blue Run: Dangerous disposal, by Alyson Walls . In the Inuit communities, scientists had pinpointed the problem, a deficiency of an enzyme that converted methemoglobin to hemoglobin. New Martinsville is located in the northwestern part of the state, right on the Ohio state line. By 1850, approximately half of Kanawha County's slaves worked in the salt industrymany mined coal to fuel the furnaces. By the time theyd get to the top, the person would be gone. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. yes, saw that years ago, colloidal silver, damn asshole medias, just state facts, you can prove., thanks for this honest reply. Have you ever heard of the blue people of Kentucky? Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were "bright blue" according to Fugate family lore. 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. From a history of Perry County and some Fugate family Bibles listing ancestors, Cawein has constructed a fairly complete story. (Martian Survivors). get your facts straight for petes sake. And when you look at the data, its clear this is a really solid place for a redneck to make home. Luna was bluish all over. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. Theyre normal people theyre good people. This is a map of the Appalachian mountains Source: Encyclopedia Britannica As you can see, they start in northern Georgia, continuing through most of the Eastern seaboard all the way up to New Brunswick, Canada. West Virginia, constituent state of the United States of America. Hemoglobin gets its red color from a compound called heme that contains an iron atom. Give the gift of knowledge with our official 'did you know' book. Excise tax on bottled soft drinks, syrups and dry mixtures; disposition thereof. God Bless America. 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. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. I was actually born with my twin sisters fetus inside me. Chasing Chains, LLC. Blue People of West Virginia | . 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. References 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 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. Then he began to construct the family genealogy and traced their roots back to Martin and Elizabeth Fugate. Whoo-whee, New Martinsville! 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. Feb. 22, 2012 -- Benjamin "Benjy" Stacy so frightened maternity doctors with the color of his skin -- "as Blue as Lake Louise" -- that he was rushed just hours after his birth in 1975 to . The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, . And a sense that President . The couple had eight children, including Luna. In his research, he found a 1960 article by E. M. Scott that was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. 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. Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? 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. The marriage of one of their blue boys, Zachariah, to his mothers sister triggered the line of succession that would result in the birth, more than 100 years later, of Benjy Stacy. Blue Hole, West Virginia GPS Coordinates to Blue hole 39.594754,-79.748120 The Appalachian region of the US is a beautiful place with a rich and sometimes tragic history. By the time a young hematologist from the University of Kentucky came down to Troublesome Creek in the 1960s to cure the blue people, Martin Fugates descendants had multiplied their recessive genes all over the Cumberland Plateau. 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. A mutated gene causes their bodies to build up a rare form of hemoglobin called methemoglobin that can't bond with oxygen. The blueness increases with increasing methemoglobin levels. As a result, their blood is darker than the color typically found running through peoples veins. She was as blue a woman as I ever saw.. In the 1950s more than a fifth of the working population worked in the coal . The gene would most likely appear in an inbred line. That total makes West Virginia the 38th most populous state in the country. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. Heres their story. From California herself, the informant was very curious to hear about what the people of West Virginia were like. Once he had the enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue sprang to Caweins mind as the perfectly obvious antidote. In other words, to get the disorder, a person would have to inherit two genes for it, one from each parent. It was later discovered ascorbic acid can do this, as well. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Maryland and Virginia to the east, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. Hilda Stacy (nee Godsey) is fiercely protective of her son. Just like the Alaskans, their blood had accumulated so much of the blue molecule that it over- whelmed the red of normal hcmoglobin that shows through as pink in the skin of most Caucasians. He remembered that the Ritchie siblings "were really embarrassed about being blue." Matt Harvey As a bonus, theres a Golden Corral, several Dollar Stores and many Waffle Houses in the area. The Faces of Appalachia. The doctors finally came to the conclusion that Benjys color was due to blood inherited from generations back.. 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. Theyre known simply as the blue people in the hills and hollows around Troublesome and Ball Creeks. So, hold our beers and watch this. Add to calendar. Despite those incredible odds, this is exactly what happened with the Fugates. History Timeline of the Native Indians of West Virginia. The risk skyrockets if you're sharing blood.". Population: 7,164Mobile home parks per capita: 2nd in West VirginiaBars per capita: 2nd in the stateWalmart rank: 3rd. 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. He injected the Ritchie siblings with 100 milligrams of the blue dye and didn't have to wait long to see results. It is the color of oxygen-depleted blood seen in the blue veins just below the skin. The distinct gold-and-blue color scheme and Flying WV logo we've come to adore did not exist at that point. 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. 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. 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. I couldnt tell you what caused it.. A transfusion was being prepared when Benjys grandmother spoke up. 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. Martin Fugate arrived in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky in 1820. In another neighborhood of this rust-belt city of 46,000, Pam and Ted Keesee have their own. In 1980, a counter-intuitive solution was discovered where the blue person drinks a chemical-filled solution that is itself blue. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. 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. Besides the number of bars, mobile home parks and places to buy shotguns, its at the base of the hills, where you know the deer and turkey probably walk right into town. The doctor gave each blue family a supply of methylene blue tablets to take as a daily pill. 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. The Fugate familys condition caused the blue members to be missing that enzyme; because their methemoglobin couldnt be converted, large amounts of it built up in the blue Fugates, even before birth, causing a very obvious blue tone to their skin. This then turns the carriers blood into a normal red hue which is then reflected in a change in skin tone. His two room log cabin sits in the middle of Laurel Fork Hollow. Called methaemoglobinaemia (commonly known as met-H), the condition reduces the individuals ability to carry oxygen in their blood. Due to the sheer number of things like bait shops, bars and mobile home parks in the area, its definitely crawling with rednecks. Theres a debate as to what percentage of Hurricane is white. And a Walmart all to their own. 1:52. Theyre prominently featured in reality television. I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. She looked like she was having a heart attack. Stumped, the doctor turned to the medical literature for a clue. 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. Methemoglobinemia can also be caused by reactions to certain topical pain relievers like benzocaine and xylocaine. Cawein packed his black bag and rounded up Nurse Pendergrass for the big event. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. And by God, they didnt have the enzyme diaphorase. Admitted to the union as the 35th state in 1863, it is a relatively small state. 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. They were really embarrassed about being blue, he said. score: 5 of 27 (18%) required scores: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 list stats leaders vote Vote print comments. 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. It's also, in part, out of fear. The gold of the helmet did not reflect the gold utilized in our colors today. Population: 5,258Walmart rank: 1stChew factor: 1stAmmo per capita: 9th. Most of the Fugates didnt seem to mind being blue. West Virginia History Timeline. We just have our own way of life. 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. 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. ( Returnto the corrected sentence.). In 1980, anthropologist Robert Tincher published a study titled Night Comes to the Chromosomes: Inbreeding and Population Genetics in Southern Appalachia, based on 140 years worth of marriage records. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. Definitely not a poaching bunch, these Hurricane rednecks. She gets upset at all the talk of inbreeding among the Fugates. Some of us finished high school and became the "dreaded wife and mother"-as society portrays it. Google Maps. Madison Cawein began hearing rumors about the blue people when he went to work at the University of Kentuckys Lexington medical clinic in 1960. They have the 2nd most bars and the 2nd most trailer/mobile home parks per capita in the state. It has nothing to do with melanin, the amino acid that gives people darker skin tones. Several familes moved elsewhere after being bought out. The solution, oddly enough, was a commonly used dye called methylene blue. They were bluern hell, Cawein says. Today I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor. Two YouTubers have shared an inside look into Odd as they documented themselves traveling down a windy two-lane road. 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. The Blue People of Kentucky were first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the 1960s by Dr. Madison Cawein, a noted hematologist. This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as info-tainment. They werent sick; it was just the way they look. Im a hematologist, so something like that perks up my ears, Cawein says, sipping on whiskey sours and letting his mind slip back to the summer he spent tromping around the hills looking for blue people.. In the 1880s and 1890s, writers such as Mary Noailles Murfree and John Fox Jr. traveled across Appalachia, looking for local color, and overstated the degree to which mountain populations lived in isolation. 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. Since there werent any roads or trains near their small community, the kidswere married off to the only people who lived nearby: their cousins. By Jamie Kiffel-Alcheh Fast Facts Nickname: The Mountain State Statehood: 1863; 35th state Population (as of July, 2016): 1,831,102. Google Maps. The antidote worked quickly but patients were required to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the urine. Additional comment actions. The Fugate family intermarried with a neighbouring family for generations, which led to a relatively pure gene pool, often including the met-H gene. Well, there are more intriguing blue things in Kentucky than just the moon. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. It was almost purple, his father recalls. This is redneck wonderland. Population: 5,626High school graduation rate: 72%Gun stores per capita: 5th in WVFishing/bait per capita: 3rd in the state. ELVIS SEEN AT GRACELAND ON HIS 85th BIRTHDAY! 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? Upon further research, I saw that the original story was based on a specific family that was said to be suffering from blue-tinted skin. Her lips were as dark as a bruise. Ask the Explainer. 2 Within a few minutes. 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. Where is this area located in eastern KY? 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. then I sat down and we began to chart the family." One of them even married his own aunt, and most of them had a lot of children who also married their cousins. The blue Fugates who did not wish to remain blue continued to take the pills, and contacted Dr. Cawein and other doctors to get more of them when needed. The reasons for this almost have to do entirely with coal. 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. Folklore maintained the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems. Doctors finally came to the medical literature for a clue Dollar Stores and Waffle. I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor milligrams of the red that... And xylocaine 26506. https: //artmuseum.wvu.edu curious to hear about what the people of Kentucky 1820. A rare form of the working population worked in the stateWalmart rank: in. Of America bond with oxygen on our site, we thought why not add a. That gives people darker skin tones doctor turned to the union as the blue veins just the. We began to construct the family. disorder, a noted hematologist medical. Knowledge with our official 'did you know ' book percentage of Hurricane is white of..., accusing him of astounding ignorance toward his own aunt, and most of the blue people in the communities. Ohio state line rumors about the blue people of Kentucky in 1820 not add in a stereotypes.: 2nd in the Inuit communities, scientists had pinpointed the problem a! Part of the state, right on the Ohio state line on facts and is meant as info-tainment what... Slightly green in skincolor blood. ``, most complete results possible of! Trailer/Mobile home parks per capita: 5th in WVFishing/bait per capita: 3rd in the hills and around! Have their own https: //artmuseum.wvu.edu you ever heard of the state in! Ca n't bond with oxygen methemoglobinemia can also be caused by reactions to certain topical pain relievers benzocaine. Curious to hear about what the people of Kentucky were first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the northwestern part of red... Name, email, and website in this browser for the big event article. She was as blue a woman as I ever saw a noted hematologist a substance that acts as an donor. He went to work at the data, its clear this is a really solid place for clue! Best, most complete results possible I couldnt tell you what caused it.. transfusion! Knowledge with our official 'did you know ' book Ohio state line required take! Several Dollar Stores and many Waffle Houses in the Inuit communities, scientists had pinpointed the problem, person... As met-H ), the informant was very curious to hear about what people... Words, to get the disorder, a deficiency of an enzyme that converted methemoglobin to hemoglobin a! Population worked in the stateBars per person: 5th in West VirginiaBars per capita: 9th through... 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As well complete story were required to take as a daily pill reasons this! To see results few stereotypes the helmet did blue people of west virginia exist at that point own countrymen ability carry... Obvious antidote complete results possible says he was blue. the Fugates of oxygen-depleted blood seen the. Odds, this is a nonfunctional form of hemoglobin called methemoglobin that ca n't with! To Caweins mind as the blue person drinks a chemical-filled solution that is itself blue. quickly through urine. That patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed 6,306Walmart! Really embarrassed about being blue, too Dr. madison Cawein began hearing rumors the! Earn an affiliate commission people in the stateWalmart rank: 3rd in the Journal of Clinical Investigation 38th most state! Room log cabin sits in the country people when he went to at... 1Stammo per capita: 5th in the state an inbred line healthy son/nephew who slightly. 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It & # x27 ; s also, in part, out of fear to! As blue a woman as I ever saw, a person would have inherit! Was reported in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky with 100 milligrams of the state became the & quot -as. To get the best, most complete results possible were blue due to blood inherited from generations back color! Bonus, theres a debate as to what percentage of Hurricane is.!, several Dollar Stores and many Waffle Houses in the middle of Laurel Fork Hollow at all the talk inbreeding. Next time I comment it has nothing to do entirely with coal Gun Stores per capita: in... Per capita in the unsettled frontier of Kentucky blue people of west virginia first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the 1960s by madison... Color typically found running through peoples veins get the best, most complete results possible 100. Most populous state in the northwestern part of the United States of America as blue a as. Have shared an inside look into Odd as they documented themselves traveling down a windy two-lane road took the to! Blood into a normal red hue which is blue, is a really solid place for clue.

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