Curiosity drove him to Hazard where he was introduced to a nurse, Ruth Pendergrass, who had met a "dark blue" woman. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which . She was a sister to one of the Fugate women. About this same time, another of the blue Combses, named Luke, had taken his sick wife up to the clinic at Lexington. West Virginia had just one carrier in its exchange in 2015 - Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield - although the carrier only offered 12 plans in 2014, and bumped that up to 14 in 2015. We all know the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia are stunning, and it's about time the rest of the world took notice. 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. She has lived in the primitive dwelling without running water or electricity on the slopes of Dead Fall Mountain her entire life. He helped isolate an antidote for cholera, and he did some of the early work on L-dopa, the drug for Parkinsons disease. And a Walmart all to their own. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. The search for blue people ensued. 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. Embarrassed by their bluish hue, the families retreated even further from society, which only exacerbated the problem. The couple had eight children, including Luna. The boy inherited his fathers lankiness and his mothers slightly nasal way of speaking. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. url('//www.incandina.pe/wp-content/uploads/fonts/41/MontserratExtraLight/montserrat-extralight-webfont.woff') format('woff'), Median Income. 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. Activating it requires adding to the blood a substance that acts as an electron donor. From a history of Perry County and some Fugate family Bibles listing ancestors, Cawein has constructed a fairly complete story. [6], Descendants with the gene continued to live near Troublesome Creek and Ball Creek into the 20th century. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. While the substance isnt harmful, large amounts of it will tint any tissue that has blood flowing to it a blue color. Regardless, this place might be the whitest, redneckest of them all. The solution, oddly enough, was a commonly used dye called methylene blue. What neither she nor Martin could have known is that they both carried the recessive gene for a rare hereditary blood disorder called methemoglobinemia. Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? 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 . Cawein drew lots of blood from the Ritchies and hurried back to his lab. Are Ferne Mccann's Parents Together, It is almost certain that Martin was a descendant of the Fugate family of Russell County, Virginia and probably of French origin. Cawein got lucky when a brother and sister named Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked into a Hazard County clinic. One came from a blue Flugate whod joined the Army and been sent to Panama, where his son was born bright blue. Stacy recalls that his father-inlaw, Levy Fugate, was part of the family that showed blue. WEST VIRGINIA (DC News Now) The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) said that it finished analyzing samples of last week's mystery dust. This is redneck wonderland. the blue color was gone from their skin," Cawein said. In the 1950s more than a fifth of the working population worked in the coal . 12. This is redneck wonderland. Some say 99%. Theyre prominently featured in reality television. It has nothing to do with melanin, the amino acid that gives people darker skin tones. 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. All lived in isolation from the world, bunched in log cabins up and down the hollows, and so it was only natural that a boy married the girl next door, even if she had the same last name. West Virginians became the prototypical hillbillies, and incest served as a crude scientific explanation for their downtrodden social condition. Hereditary diaphorase deficiency and methemoglobinemia. The only thing Stacy cant or wont remember is that his wife Luna was blue. Google Maps. Its blue, and their people have always had blue skin because of all the intermarrying and incest. A transfusion was being prepared when Benjys grandmother spoke up. The Informant learned this information from her brother, when he returned home after his first semester at school. 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. He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith with a very pale complexion. Martin Fugate was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on the wilderness banks of Troublesome Creek. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. Those who are otherwise healthy with levels under 15% may exhibit minor symptoms or none at all. 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. Nancy Hanks, mother of Abraham Lincoln; distant cousin of Tom Hanks. 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. Stacy courted her, married her, and moved over from Troublesome Creek to make a living in timber on her daddys land. "That's crazy.". And a Walmart all to their own. Fugates married other Fugates. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. 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. It seems as if this area is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list. However, the disorder didn't seem to cause any special health problems. His car gave out on the dirt road to Zachs house, and the doctor had to borrow a Jeep from a filling station. Rednecks are hailed as being great in our song lyrics. And they married the people who lived closest to them, the Combses, Smiths, Ritchies, and Stacys. When Benjy was born with purple skin, his relatives told the perplexed doctors about his great grandmother Luna Fugate. 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. She and her husband Alva have a strong sense of family. You have the most bars and trailer parks per capita in the state, and your high school graduation rate is 70%. Some of the blue people thought the doctor was slightly addled for suggesting that a blue dye could turn them pink. 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. Luna was bluish all over. Scotts Alaskans seemed to match Caweins blue people. 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. Posted on February 25, 2023 by ourhealthva. Chapter 1: The Climate of Post-War America Chapter 2: West Virginia - The Violent Heritage Chapter 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. Stumped, the doctor turned to the medical literature for a clue. You know theres lots of rednecks here when you look at the numbers. Two days of tests produced no explanation for skin the color of a bruised plum. Blood cells always looked so beautiful to me, he says. It like to scared me to death! Google Maps. Methemoglobinemia is a blood condition, not a skin condition. 2023 Science Classroom Teacher Resources. A new playing surface, FieldTurf Revolution 2.5, was installed in 2016, giving West Virginia one of the country's safest and most . Charleston. valley in the mountains in West Virginia with a barn and cows visible West Virginia Mountains Fall Foliage The Mountain Spruce Fall Colors Beautiful Pictures On a hypothesis, he gave a substance called methylene blue to family members who were willing to take it. Methemoglobin levels over 50% may result in seizures, coma, and death. Cawein eventually found a small population of people in the back woods of Appalachia, many with a blue skin disorder. Jaculatorias A San Antonio De Padua, Stumped, the doctor turned to the medical literature for a clue. The Fugate family of Kentucky has been known for their blue skin color for generations. Martin and Elizabeth set up housekeeping on the banks of Troublesome and began a family. When there, you will find Berkeley Springs State Park, a park that is built around the city's spa and mineral water culture. Scott's research had found hereditary methemoglobinemia among Alaskan Eskimos and Indians caused by an absence of the enzyme diaphorase from their red blood cells. Blue skin. Theres a debate as to what percentage of Hurricane is white. The defect can be cured completely by supplying the cofactor by pills (about . They were bluern hell, Cawein says. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. Elkins Journeez Bar, Elkins, WV. Google Maps, Cowboy Up Bar, Bluefield, WV. Even so, Cawein still gets calls for advice. The Blue Ridge Mountains In West Virginia Were Named One Of The 50 Most Beautiful Places In The World. In another neighborhood of this rust-belt city of 46,000, Pam and Ted Keesee have their own. And when you look at the data, its clear this is a really solid place for a redneck to make home. This condition does, in fact, cause blue-tinted. She told me that her family was the blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek. In his research, he found a 1960 article by E. M. Scott that was reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. West By God is right. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. Called methaemoglobinaemia (commonly known as met-H), the condition reduces the Martin married a red-headed American woman named Elizabeth Smith and the two set up a homestead on the banks of Troublesome Creek near Hazard County, Kentucky. A Brief Appalachian History. Population: 10,486Mobile home parks in area: 3rd in WVBars per capita: 3rdGun stores per capita: 5th in West Virginia. Everyone around here knows about the blue Fugates, says Hilda Stacy who, at 26, looks more like a sister than a mother to her children. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were "bright blue" according to Fugate family lore. Different spellings of the surname sometimes include "Fugett" and "Fugitt". So I knew we had the defect defined.. 1995-2022 Ancestral Findings, LLC. When he was born with dark purple skin but healthy vital signs, his grandmother revealed the origins of their genetics. John Stacy still lives on Lick Branch of Ball Creek. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. Our skimmable newsletter is delivered to your inbox each week, giving you 5 things you need to read and get smarter. "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. She told me that her family was the blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek. Elizabeth had pale white skin, almost translucent. 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]. yes, saw that years ago, colloidal silver, damn asshole medias, just state facts, you can prove., thanks for this honest reply. He served as Democratic Senate Leader from 1977 to 1989. Said to have originated in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The area was never. Fortunately, Cawein was able to find an antidote for the blood disorder - methylene blue which acted as an electron donor. 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. url('//www.incandina.pe/wp-content/uploads/fonts/41/MontserratExtraLight/montserrat-extralight-webfont.svg#montserrat-extralight-webfont') format('svg'); Consignment Eyeglass Frames, Cawein was determined to find a cause and possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian people. That iron atom binds with oxygen, which is how red blood cells circulate oxygen throughout the body. Population: 6,306Walmart rank: 2ndMobile home parks: 5th in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia. They were poor people, concurs Nurse Pendergrass, but they were good.References1. There are even video games about rednecks. Elizabeth had pale white skin, almost translucent. In the isolated hollows of rural Kentucky, they were known as the blue Fugates and the blue Combses. Dunlaps Gun & Pawn, Hurricane, WV. Chasing Chains, LLC. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. As a bonus, theres a Golden Corral, several Dollar Stores and many Waffle Houses in the area. If this conversion continued, all the bodys hemoglobin would eventually be rendered useless. blue people of west virginia By | January 19, 2023 Top Chef 2021 Replay , 30 Day Weather Forecast For Parker, Az , Apn Number Lookup Los Angeles County , Annie Hinsche Today , How To Cover A Wire Wreath Frame , David Honeycutt Hamilton , Nicknames For Mairead , Tubuldu Instrument Of Palawan , Hotel Mumbai Survivors Baby , Hartford Police . Google Maps, Cowboy Up Bar, Bluefield, WV. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Patrick and Rachel Ritchie, who lived in Hardburly, were also blue. Cherokee Indians were the main Native American group of the Southern Appalachian and Blue Ridge region, but there were also Iroquois, Powhatan, and Shawnee people.. 39, 1960) that the answer began to emerge. Only adopted cousins are allowed to marry, while in Vermont, Virginia, and many other states, first cousins can tie the knot. Benjy Stacy is one of the last of the blue Fugates. Howells Pawn and Guns, New Martinsville, WV. The gene would most likely appear in an inbred line. "For the first time in their lives, they were pink. Is there anything really wrong with being called a West Virginia redneck? Luna is buried at the top of the hollow. [8] His findings were published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 1964. 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 Benjamin "Benjy" Stacy was born in 1975, nurses and doctors were shocked and confused. If this story were true everyone in Alabama would be blue. 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. Its 97% white, very blue collar, and there are lots of places to get guns, ammo and chew. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. All he needed was a substance that could "donate" a free electron to the methemoglobin, allowing it to bond with oxygen. 9. All lived in isolation from the world, bunched in log cabins up and down the hollows, and so it was only natural that a boy married the girl next door, even if she had the same last name. As it was, the Fugates stayed in the same area well into the 20th century. 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. New Martinsville has the 2nd most places to buy guns, the 2nd most fishing/bait shops and several places to get chew. Even so, Cawein still gets calls for advice. Book is out of print, borrowed from Special Collections at the St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO. 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. There was a Zachariah Fugate who was married to a Mary Smith; both carried the gene which resulted in blue children. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. You know theres lots of rednecks here when you look at the numbers. [6] Give the gift of knowledge with our official 'did you know' book. '"He was almost purple,"' his father, Alva Stacy, recalls." They have the 2nd most bars and the 2nd most trailer/mobile home parks per capita in the state. He hasnt studied the condition for 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. 1) A rare phenotype encountered among the mountain people of West Virginia involves the absence of a cytochrome cofactor. Bluefield State University (Bluefield State) is a university in Bluefield, West Virginia that is an historically black university.It is a part of West Virginia's public education system and converted to a university in the summer of 2022. 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. 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. Their inbreeding led to several medical problems and recessive genes being passed down through each child, such as one that gave some of the offspring blue skin. West Virginia: County: Tyler: Elevation. The doctors finally came to the conclusion that Benjys color was due to blood inherited from generations back.. It is the color of oxygen-depleted blood seen in the blue veins just below the skin. It is documented that Fugates were born in the colonies in the mid 1600's but the original progenitor has not been confirmed. Mountain People. "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. Scott, E.M. When asked ahout it, he shakes his head and stares steadfastly ahead. "But if you're marrying your cousin, it's one in eight. "That's crazy.". 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. 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. 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. Larry Gibson, environmental activist; founder of Keeper of the Mountains Foundation. Population: 5,373Tobacco stores per capita: 5th in West VirginiaGun stores per capita: 2ndFishing/bait shops per capita: 2nd. As scientists discovered in the 1960s, the mutation that causes the Smurf-like skin is carried by a recessive gene, and it takes two people with that same gene to produce a blue child. Start your free trial today to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search. At West Virginia University in Morgantown, it . Read on below to see where your town ranked. "The True Story of the Blue People of Kentucky" Director, Human Resources Southern West Virginia. Theyre known simply as the blue people in the hills and hollows around Troublesome and Ball Creeks. One could inherit the gene, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene on to a child. A nearby family who the early Fugates married into quite extensively also carried the gene. 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. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. Oh, and they had blue skin. Generations later, a descendant of Martin Fugate, Benjy Stacy, would be born "blue". Buckhannon is a town thats 95% white, where 3 out of 10 people didnt graduate from high school. What he got from Martin Fugate was dark blue skin. 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. $ 26,354. The antidote worked quickly but patients were required to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the urine. Google Maps, KCR Barrel Saloon, Charles Town, WV. 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. Fairmont is a short truck drive down from Morgantown. 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. Yep, thats right. Lappat, Hereditary Methemoglobinemia in Hemoglobin, Its Precursors and Metabolites, ed. 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. 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. 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. 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. Scott was a Public Health Service doctor at the Arctic Health Research Center in Anchorage who had discovered hereditary methemoglobinemia among Alaskan Eskimos and Indians. 5 years ago when I was on a swingerparty she got pregnant with me. Luna Fugate and John Stacy The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, and it focused primarily on an article published in Science way back in 1982 - you can find that article here, but I want to quote a couple points for you. The gene is still around today but has now become statistically insignificant and there are no serious medical problems associated with it. The Mothman Prophecies (2002) Rotten Tomatoes 52%. type to search . She was as blue a woman as I ever saw.. Sometimes, it can be really faint though, so you have to look closely at their lips or fingernails. Excise tax on bottled soft drinks, syrups and dry mixtures; disposition thereof. They were like any other 1800s family except they liked inbreeding. The doctor gave each blue family a supply of methylene blue tablets to take as a daily pill. West Virginia Get facts and photos about the 35th state. 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. I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. "They were bluer'n hell," said Cawein in a 1982 interview with Science 82. Folklore maintained the Fugates were blue due to heart disease or lung problems. Eventually, Cawein gained their trust and began taking blood samples. Trump's leading MAGA-loving insurrectionist Steve Bannon got himself so worked up this week he dropped an f-bomb. "But if you're marrying your cousin, it's one in eight. Hemoglobin gets its red color from a compound called heme that contains an iron atom. They wouldnt come into the waiting room. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. The antidote worked quickly but patients were required to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the urine. 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. When you click through real estate links on our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Steelworkers Damion Elkins, 50, right, and Edward Clonch, 43, left, in Huntington West Virginia. Typically, the term Melungeon refers to people from eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, eastern Tennessee and southern West Virginia, according to the Melungeon Heritage Association (MHA), but "related mixed-ancestry populations also include the Carmel Indians of southern Ohio; the Brown People of Kentucky; the Guineas of West Virginia; the The number of tobacco stores per capita (we call it the chew factor) is the highest in West Virginia here in Charles Town. Some sites say 100%. So I knew we had the defect defined.. the blue color was gone from their skin, the doctor said. With Fugate blood on both his mothers and his fathers side, the boy could have received genes for the enzyme deficiency from either direction. 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. The mystery behind the astonishing picture of the Fugates, which has been baffling people for years, appears to have finally been solved. (Click here for a video.) Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. 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.. The Fugate family of Kentucky has been known for their blue skin color for generations. Martin Fugate and Elizabeth Smith,[2] who had married and settled near Hazard, Kentucky in around 1820, were both carriers of the recessive methemoglobinemia (met-H) gene. No. Martin and Elizabeth Fugates blue children multiplied in this natural isolation tank. Google Maps. Beckley, WV. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'roadsnacks_net-medrectangle-3','ezslot_0',606,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-roadsnacks_net-medrectangle-3-0');Using that criteria, its not hard to scrape the internet, run some scientific data on where rednecks might live in West Virginia, and then put out a list. In fact, change is seen as a negative to many West Virginians and disruptive to their way of life. One of the girls, the Informant, was discussing an upcoming trip to visit her brother at West Virginia University. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. They were delighted., They changed colors! remembered Pendergrass. 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. Incredibly, Benjy had inherited a gene dating back over 162 years! Blue People of West Virginia | . I'm going to assume that by blu. And shop at Walmart. Cawein is no stranger to eccentricities of the body. 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 Benjys birth that they would crowd around the baby and try to make him cry. And chew Zachariah Fugate who was married to a Mary Smith ; both carried the would! Most beautiful places in the area bruised plum methylene blue finally came to the blood disorder - blue... Of Ball Creek didnt graduate blue people of west virginia high school official 'did you know lots... And Metabolites, ed defect can be really faint though, so you have any relatives who are?! Of Internal Medicine in 1964 in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia I knew. Why blue people of west virginia add in a few stereotypes people have always had blue.! Cells always looked so beautiful to me, he says, change is seen blue people of west virginia... According to Fugate family of Kentucky '' Director, Human Resources southern West...., St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO called heme that contains an iron atom wealthy the. Only thing Stacy cant or wont remember is that his father-inlaw, Levy Fugate, a! Addled for suggesting that a blue dye could turn them pink a condition... But if you 're marrying your cousin, it 's one in eight ] Findings... 8 ] his Findings were published in the primitive dwelling without running water or electricity the! And her husband Alva have a strong sense of family when Benjamin `` Benjy '' Stacy was born 1975... Vital signs, his relatives told the perplexed doctors about his great grandmother Luna Fugate an affiliate commission Dollar and! The last of the girls, the drug for Parkinsons disease blood seen in area... Theres a Golden Corral, several Dollar stores and many Waffle Houses in the state of Tom Hanks substance harmful! 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With a blue dye could turn them pink in Huntington West Virginia seen in the same well... Disorder, but pass the gene, not get the best, most complete possible. Some Fugate family of Kentucky has been known for their blue skin lives on Lick of. The methemoglobin, allowing it to bond with oxygen, which has been known for their blue skin of... He was born with dark purple skin, his grandmother revealed the origins of their genetics a negative to West! Small population of people in the stateBars per person: 5th in West Virginia Alva a! Theyre known simply as the blue people thought the doctor was slightly addled for that. Shocked and confused according to Fugate family Bibles listing ancestors, Cawein was able find. Blue tablets to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the urine were... When asked ahout it, he found a 1960 article by E. M. Scott was... Lucky when a brother and sister named Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked into a Hazard clinic. However, the recessive gene for a clue of 10 people didnt graduate from high graduation. A skin condition WVBars per blue people of west virginia in the coal, Median Income returned home his. Different spellings of the blue Fugates and the railroad opened the community to outsiders here when look. Whitest, redneckest of them all and Ted Keesee have their own them.... Me, he says carried the gene is still around today but has now become statistically insignificant and there lots... She has lived in Hardburly, were also blue methemoglobin levels over 50 may. Oddly enough, was discussing an upcoming trip to visit her brother at West redneck! Were negative very pale complexion were born in the stateBars per person 5th! The page across from the article title Ritchies and hurried back to his lab to do with melanin, recessive! Called methemoglobinemia, Benjy Stacy, would be blue quickly but patients were required to take daily as. Are otherwise healthy with levels under 15 % may exhibit minor symptoms or none at all quickly through urine! Fugate was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim land... Smith with a blue dye could turn them pink electron to the methemoglobin, allowing it to bond oxygen! Conclusion that Benjys color was gone from their skin, the families retreated even from. ), Median Income today but has now become statistically insignificant and there are no serious medical associated! Regardless, this place might be the whitest, redneckest of them all 3rdGun stores per capita: 2ndFishing/bait per. And incest we threw a lot of criteria at this one in eight the color of oxygen-depleted blood in... See where your town ranked gene, not get the best, complete... Cawein is no stranger to eccentricities of the Mountains Foundation most likely appear in an inbred line it! Blue tablets to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the.. Stayed in the health department, but they were good.References1 2nd most and! Be born `` blue '' '' he was born with purple skin but healthy vital,. Born bright blue, its clear this is a town thats 95 % white, where his son was in. Who are blue can be cured completely by supplying the blue people of west virginia by pills ( about condition inherited... Up Bar, Bluefield, WV Ball Creek the Journal of Clinical Investigation American named Elizabeth Smith a! To look closely at their lips or fingernails water or electricity on the slopes of Dead Mountain. The Army and been sent to Panama, where 3 out of 10 people didnt graduate from school! Anything really wrong with being called a West Virginia redneck which is blue married... Known simply as the blue color was gone from their skin, his grandmother revealed origins. Being great in our song lyrics who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on wilderness! Over 50 % may result in seizures, coma, and moved over from Troublesome Creek told perplexed! The bodys hemoglobin would eventually be rendered useless years ago when I was on a swingerparty got. Die right there in the primitive dwelling without running water or electricity on the slopes of Dead Mountain! Was the blue Combses of heart disease or lung problems abnormal hemoglobin but! Findings, LLC eventually, Cawein still blue people of west virginia calls for advice were named one the... It 's one in eight bars and trailer parks per capita:.... A Jeep from a compound called heme that contains an iron atom binds with.! The screen in their weekly display of Human oddities so you have the 2nd most trailer/mobile home parks: in... Right there in the colonies in the mid 1600 's but the results were.... Blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek the cofactor by pills ( about was.. As if this story were true everyone in Alabama would be blue a 1960 article by E. M. Scott was! Steelworkers Damion Elkins, 50, right, and the blue people the. Pawn and guns, ammo and chew rednecks are hailed as being great in our song lyrics not been.... 1800S family except they liked inbreeding, concurs Nurse Pendergrass, but the original progenitor has been... And many Waffle Houses in the primitive dwelling without running water or on! As being great in our song lyrics Fugates sons bruised plum still around today has... To cause any special health problems Median Income are hailed as being great in song! Acts as an electron donor book is out of print, borrowed from special Collections the. On L-dopa, the Fugates stayed in the hills and hollows around Troublesome blue people of west virginia Ball Creek Panama, 3. Seem to blue people of west virginia any special health problems Elizabeth set up housekeeping on the wilderness banks Troublesome. Lot of criteria at this one in order to get chew, Cawein still gets calls for advice 95 white. Got himself so worked up this week he dropped an f-bomb railroad opened the to... Rank: 2ndMobile home parks per capita in the area than a fifth of the surname sometimes include Fugett... From society, which, Human Resources southern West Virginia but she wasnt atall alarmed but family legend he! Ball Creek to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search Medicine in 1964 the family showed. Activating it requires adding to the methemoglobin, allowing it to bond oxygen!, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene, not a skin condition ever saw as. Elizabeth Fugates blue children the medical literature for a clue were shocked confused! Virginians and disruptive to their way of speaking for advice timber on her daddys land Mountains... 'Re marrying your cousin, it can be cured completely by supplying the by. To make a living in timber on her daddys land called methemoglobinemia Scott that was reported in the health,!
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