The following piece was collected at a dinner table with a group of girls out celebrating a friend’s birthday. “They vary in color from white to black, often have blue eyes and straight hair, and they are generally industrious. 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. '"He was almost purple,"' his father, Alva Stacy, recalls." These murder stories may make your skin crawl! See more ideas about kentucky, blue, appalachia. At that point, Benjy’s father, Alva Stacy, explained to the doctors, “My grandmother Luna on my dad’s side was a blue Fugate. This results in brown blood giving Caucasian patients a bluish hue to their skin. Written family records do not indicate Martin's skin color, but family legend says he was blue. Bluefield is located at (37.262219, -81.218674) in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia across the state border from Bluefield, Virginia According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 8.86 square miles (22.95 km 2 ), all land. Who is Exempt? Cawein was determined to find a cause and possibly a solution to help this small group of isolated Appalachian people. Patrick and Rachel Ritchie, who lived in Hardburly, were also blue. 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. The Indigenous People of West Virginia The names of the West Virginia tribes included the Cherokee, Iroquois, Manahoac, Meherrin, Monacan, Nottaway, Occaneechi, Saponi and Shawnee. … At last they were free of their "blue" shade and were no longer embarrassed. As legend has it, the Moon-Eyed people were an entire race of physically small inhabitants of a wooded area near what is now Murphy, North Carolina. 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. Methemoglobinemia is a rare hereditary blood disorder that results from excess levels of methomoglobin (metHb) in the blood. Isolation and in-breeding passed on the disorder. "Methomoglobin is an oxidized form of hemoglobin that has a decreased affinity for oxygen, resulting in a reduced ability to release oxygen to tissues." Then he began to construct the family genealogy and traced their roots back to Martin and Elizabeth Fugate. Legacy records, cemeteries in Greenbrier County, West Virginia . PeopleLegacy.com does not guarantee the information you receive through PeopleLegacy.com to be accurate or up-to-date. - rather than say "I'm going mountain biking in the Blue Ridge on Saturday." The afflicted were embarrassed about their condition and adamant about talking to Cawein. There was a Zachariah Fugate who was married to a Mary Smith; both carried the gene which resulted in blue children. 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. 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. Generations later, a descendant of Martin Fugate, Benjy Stacy, would be born "blue". Laughing, the Informant launched into a story of the “West Virginia Blue People”, a story about a genetic condition the resulted from intermarriage. Others might be put down to good old West Virginia quirkiness. The total surface area of West Virginia measures 24,230 square miles (62,755 square kilometers), which means that an average of 77.1 peoples live on every square mile of West Virginia land. The most detailed account, "Blue People of Troublesome Creek," was published in 1982 by the University of Indiana's Cathy Trost. The West Virginia town of Harpers Ferry was the site of John Brown’s ill-fated 1859 raid on the federal armory there. Faris, David. 13,357) Like my recent post about the deaf community on Martha’s Vineyard , it is a tale of an autosomal recessive disease that has dissipated over time as the descendants of the … The Melungeons from Wicked Delicate Films on Vimeo. 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. 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. Cawein eventually found a small population of people in the back woods of Appalachia, many with a blue skin disorder. Mary (Dawley) Fugate, who answers quite a few queries and also helped compile the genealogy book, indicates that the siblings of Martin Fugate were not blue but he must have been a carrier. (Baltimore: Gateway Press 1986). Fortunately, Cawein was able to find an antidote for the blood disorder - methylene blue which acted as an electron donor. Never heard of any in West Virginia, but in there is a popular case of blue people in Eastern Kentucky due to a condition known as Methemoglobinemia. “West Virginia has a very strong tradition of being jealous and guarding individual liberties, including those that are protected by the Second Amendment,” West Virginia … The Flatwoods Monster has not hissed at boys in the little village of Flatwoods, West Virginia, since Sept. 12, 1952. 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. West Virginia is one of the nation’s most rural states, with 77 people per square mile. He married a red-haired American named Elizabeth Smith with a very pale complexion. West Virginia is one of the nation’s most rural states, with 77 people per square mile. Laughing, the Informant launched into a story of the “West Virginia Blue People”, a story about a genetic condition the resulted from intermarriage. The first people in West Virginia were the Paleo-Indians, or early hunters, who arrived sometime before 11,000 BC. Today, the West Virginia black population is around 4% of the state’s total population with extremely small communities throughout West Virginia and very little growth in sight. In online research, there was no mention made of "blue" people as recorded in the genealogy book, The Fugate Family of Russell County Virginia, published in 1986, but it has been confirmed in the Fugate discussions on the Genforum. “They vary in color from white to black, often have blue eyes and straight hair, and they are generally industrious. 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. The ancestral line began with a French orphan, Martin Fugate, who settled in Eastern Kentucky. 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. 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. 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. 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. West Virginia is a state rich in history and beauty, but it has also had its share of weird occurrences. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. People who grow up in the Shenandoah Valley or the New River Valley don't always assume the mountains are to the west. She remembers the story very easily, most often humorously, because she remembers the manner in which her brother told her. The Flatwoods Monster has not hissed at boys in the little village of Flatwoods, West Virginia, since Sept. 12, 1952. Old woman smoking a pipe, Appalachia, USA, c1917. The company is a West Virginia Domestic Llc | Limited-Liability Company, which was filed on August 16, 2019. The county was founded in 1850 and is named for Sir Walter Raleigh. Congress granted statehood to West Virginia on June 20, 1863. Those persons under age 25 make up 29.6% of the population of West Virginia and people over 65 make up 19.3%. Little did they know that their union would create shades of blue people! 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.. Madison Cawein began hearing rumors about the blue people when he went to work at … Favorite Answer. 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. Photograph taken during Cecil Sharp’s folk music collecting expedition: British musician Sharp (1859-1924) and his assistant Dr Maud Karpeles (1885-1976) collected folk songs from the mountain singers of the Appalachians (North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky), between 1916 and 1918. Any person operating a motor vehicle in the armed services of the United States in the performance of official duties. In the early 1960's, this blue malady caught the attention of Madison Cawein, an inquisitive hematologist from the University of Kentucky. That figure converts to 29.8 people for every square kilometer, and it makes West Virginia the 29th most densely populated in the country -- in that respect, it’s a pretty average state. The name refers to a specific set of families. The Melungeons from Wicked Delicate Films on Vimeo. 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. Laughing, the Informant launched into a story of the “West Virginia Blue People”, a story about a genetic condition the resulted from intermarriage. Nowadays, it seems that every other black-haired, mountain dweller claims Melungeon roots. Book is out of print, borrowed from Special Collections at the St. Louis County Library, St. Louis, MO. Old woman smoking a pipe, Appalachia, USA, c1917. The address on file for this person is 515 Highland Avenue, South Charleston, WV 25303 in Kanawha County. If you’re curious enough, here are the least redneck places in West Virginia (if that’s even possible): Pea Ridge (Pop. Eternal Blue is listed as an Organizer with Eternal Blue LLC in West Virginia. Strange things have happened here and some of them have no explanation, rhyme or reason. “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. Blue People of Kentucky Why the Fugate Family Had Blue SkinA Frenchman arrived in Kentucky in 1820, bringing with him his strange blue skin. If you’re curious enough, here are the least redneck places in West Virginia (if that’s even possible): Pea Ridge (Pop. His doctors were alarmed by the sight and immediately sent him by ambulance to a hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. One could inherit the gene, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene on to a child. 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. We’re aware that these uncertain times are limiting many aspects of life. WVEA named the state board along with Monongalia and Kanawha counties in the lawsuit that demands school employees have the choice to work remotely until all have … Little did they know that their uni… So blue, in fact, that his skin was the deep purple color of a plum. 6,674) Teays Valley (Pop. Neighboring Virginia has more than 200 per square mile. One of the girls, the “Informant”, was discussing an upcoming trip to visit her brother at West Virginia University. "It has been determined that this was an isolated incident," Julie Miller, an administrator for the Boone County Health Department, told CNBC by email. Martin and Elizabeth had seven children, four being born blue; Zachariah, who was blue, married his mother's sister. 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. The Informant learned this information from her brother, when he returned home after his first semester at school. Benjy was born in a maternity ward near Hazard, Kentucky and was rushed by ambulance to a medical clinic in Lexington to find help for his blue problem. She was one of the "blue" Combses who lived up on Ball Creek and was a sister to one of the Fugate women; her brother, Luke, was also blue. The Fugates, a family that lived in the hills of Kentucky, commonly known as the "Blue Fugates" or the "Blue People of Kentucky", are notable for having been carriers of a genetic trait that led to the blood disorder methemoglobinemia, which causes the appearance of blue-tinged skin. The early hunters lived in small family units. If you’re 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. West Virginia. The blue people of Troublesome Creek had methemoglobinemia, a metabolic condition affecting hemoglobin, the four-part protein that carries oxygen bound to an iron atom at each subunit’s core. For More City Stories, Follow Link *Note: All information is provided through people of the community, outside sources, and research. The most populated city in West Virginia is Charleston with 47,929 people. “And going forward, West Virginia needs Medicare for All and billions of dollars of federal investment to put people back to work building the infrastructure the state needs to move forward. The search for blue people ensued. So you can tell if someone is a product of incest if their skin is blue! Photograph taken during Cecil Sharp’s folk music collecting expedition: British musician Sharp (1859-1924) and his assistant Dr Maud Karpeles (1885-1976) collected folk songs from the mountain singers of the Appalachians (North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky), between 1916 and 1918. Tests for abnormal hemoglobin were negative. West Virginia experienced an approximately 0.83% decrease in its population between 2016 and 2017, and has a workforce of about 700,000. Cancel any time, no strings attached. 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 address on file for this person is 319 Main St, Madison, WV 25130 in Boone County. When little Benjamin Benjy Stacy was born in a small hospital near Hazard, Kentucky, he was the picture of health. If you live in West Virginia and want to drive a motor vehicle on the public roads, you must have a West Virginia driver's license, unless you are exempt. The antidote worked quickly but patients were required to take daily doses as it passed quickly through the urine. With pale, white skin and bearded faces, their large, blue eyes were said to be so sensitive to the sun that they were only able to operate by the light of the moon, hence the name, “Moon-Eyed.” It is documented that Fugates were born in the colonies in the mid 1600's but the original progenitor has not been confirmed. This condition does, in fact, cause blue-tinted. Apparently, it shows more easily when they’re cold!”. The first people in West Virginia were the Paleo-Indians, or early hunters, who arrived sometime before 11,000 BC. You must carry your license with you when you drive. Neighboring Virginia has more than 200 per square mile. Luna Fugate and John Stacy. 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