Regardless, this place might be the whitest, redneckest of them all. She had been out in the cold and she was just blue! recalls Pendergrass, who is now 69 and retired from nursing. But Cawein knew from earlier studies that the body has an alternative method of converting methemoglobin back to normal. Typically, the blue is isolated to one part of the body. Grafton has the highest percentage of its population that didnt finish high school. The expedition descended that river to Peter's Falls on the future Virginia-West Virginia border and claimed for England all the land drained by the New River and its tributaries. Sit back, relax, and read the amazing but true genetic tale of the Blue People of Kentucky. The entry was on the blue men, not of West Virginia, but of the Mountain State's neighbor, Kentucky, . The Fugate family of Kentucky once lived in the isolated community of Troublesome Creek. Some sources claim their are no blue . 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. John Stacy still lives on Lick Branch of Ball Creek. As coal mining and the railroads brought progress to Kentucky, the blue Fugates started moving out of their communities and marrying other people. "They were bluer'n hell," said Cawein in a 1982 interview with Science 82. Today I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor. The number of tobacco stores per capita (we call it the chew factor) is the highest in West Virginia here in Charles Town. The company's principal address is Tuckers Run Rd . Well, as you can imagine, I really examined them. Google Maps. Elizabeth had pale white skin, almost translucent. 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. Methemoglobin which is blue, is a nonfunctional form of the red hemoglobin that carries oxygen. Population: 6,427High school graduation rate: 70%Bars per capita: 1st in WVMobile home parks per capita: 1st. 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. 8 November 2021. In 2014, the lowest-cost bronze plan in the WV exchange was an average of $280/month, higher than the national average of $249. 2022 Science Classroom Teacher Resources. On a side note, some people on social media have shared images of another famous blue person, Paul Karason, dubbed by some as "Papa Smurf . 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. It is bordered by Pennsylvania to the north, Maryland and Virginia to the east, Kentucky to the southwest, and Ohio to the northwest. One day, one of the older mountain men cornered the doctor. The Informant learned this information from her brother, when he returned home after his first semester at school. Its true that, through the 19th century, transportation networks developed slowly in the rugged, westernmost portion of Virginia (incorporated as West Virginia in 1863). Book is out of print, borrowed from Special Collections at the St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO. martin fugate was blue from birth, which has nothing to do with inbreeding. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. Elkins Journeez Bar, Elkins, WV. The female's primary color is light cinnamon with darker-colored wings. 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. He was involved as a law enforcement officer in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, the West Virginia Mine Wars and the destruction of moonshine stills. 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. Once he had the enzyme deficiency isolated, methylene blue sprang to Caweins mind as the perfectly obvious antidote. Informant: "So, what my brother told me is that there's a story that there are people in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, near the campus I guess, and there is skin is blue. Aside from the stark discoloration of the carriers skin, there are no serious problems associated with the disease. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. 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 company's filing status is listed as Revoked (Failure To File Annual Report) and its File Number is 45369. RoadSnacks is reader-supported. It seems as if this area is generally, more wealthy than the other cities on this list. The first known ancestor was David Wilson, who was born in Scotland about 1650; he had a son David, born about . Faris, David. Theyre known simply as the blue people in the hills and hollows around Troublesome and Ball Creeks. I just knew that patient was going to die right there in the health department, but she wasnt atall alarmed. 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. It's also, in part, out of fear. The drugs effects are temporary, as methylene blue is normally excreted in the urine. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Wait. The blueness increases with increasing methemoglobin levels. he passed the gene on to his children. 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. You may now brag to your friends and share this endlessly on your Facebook walls. 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. Madison Cawein began hearing rumors about the blue people when he went to work at the University of Kentuckys Lexington medical clinic in 1960. When asked ahout it, he shakes his head and stares steadfastly ahead. His car gave out on the dirt road to Zachs house, and the doctor had to borrow a Jeep from a filling station. Martin Fugate was a French orphan who emigrated to Kentucky in 1820 to claim a land grant on the wilderness banks of Troublesome Creek. Methemoglobinemia is one of the rare genetic conditions that's treatable with a simple pill. Population: 5,258Walmart rank: 1stChew factor: 1stAmmo per capita: 9th. And unleash your spirit. Informant: So, what my brother told me is that theres a story that there are people in the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, near the campus I guess, and there is skin is blue. The topographic boundary was modified where Route 9 crossed the watershed divide. Intermarrying with people other than close relatives meant the likelihood of any Fugate descendant being born with the condition reduced. But by 3 years old and . Exaggeration-prone outsiders. The clan kept multiplying. The reasons for this almost have to do entirely with coal. This information supplied by John Graves whose uncle was the father of the child. It was almost purple, his father recalls. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four of whom were "bright blue" according to Fugate family lore. How far from Flatwoods , ky? As the story goes, Martin Fugate, a French orphan, settled on the banks of eastern Kentucky's Troublesome Creek around 1820 to claim a land grant. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. 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. 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. The condition that made the Fugates blue causes large amounts of methemoglobin (which is a blue type of hemoglobin) to circulate in the blood. We do not feel less-fortunate. Theyre normal people theyre good people. Despite those incredible odds, this is exactly what happened with the Fugates. Methemoglobinemia can also be caused by reactions to certain topical pain relievers like benzocaine and xylocaine. Luna is buried at the top of the hollow. A lot of nice farmland was lost to the lake over the . Mountain People. They took the doctor to see their uncle, who was blue, too. Apparently, it shows more easily when theyre cold!. For the first time in their lives, they were pink. For the Fugates, family members expressed the gene to varying degrees. The enzyme eventually builds to normal levels in most children and to almost normal levels in those like Benjy, who carry one gene. by F. William Sunderman, J.B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia PA, 1964. If youre analyzing smaller cities in West Virginia with blue collar workers, where people have lots of options for drinking, smoking, hunting and Walmarting, this is an accurate list. Learn how your comment data is processed. Dating back to the early 1800s, an isolated family in eastern Kentucky - who can trace their roots back to a French orphan - started producing children who were blue. ELVIS SEEN AT GRACELAND ON HIS 85th BIRTHDAY! Excise tax on bottled soft drinks, syrups and dry mixtures; disposition thereof. Those who are otherwise healthy with levels under 15% may exhibit minor symptoms or none at all. New Martinsville is located in the northwestern part of the state, right on the Ohio state line. 15,898 100 A Cinephile's Guide to Biographical Films. Due to all this inbreeding, there were a lot of blue people running around the backwoods of Kentucky. The clinic doctors only saw her a few times in her life and never for anything serious. (Martian Survivors). She lives alone in one of the. Instead, football players bore a bronzesque gold helmet emblazoned with a blue outline of the state of West Virginia and the letters "WVU" inside an oval. So I knew we had the defect defined.. But as Kentucky became more populated and more genes came into the Fugate family tree, there were far fewer children born blue. So, youd think people who are rednecks would be proud to be called a redneck. The Fugate family didnt leave the area for generations, continually intermarrying with relatives. 3. Heres their story. 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. , there were far fewer children born blue ; Zachariah, who was blue,... Carriers skin, there were a lot of criteria at this one in to! 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