2019 Foreign-Born Population 30.2k people As of 2020, 1.64% of West Virginia residents (29.6k people) were born outside of the United States, which is lower than the national average of 13.5%. He was involved as a law enforcement officer in the Hatfield-McCoy Feud, the West Virginia Mine Wars and the destruction of moonshine stills. The good news for those who may still be born expressing the blue gene is that there is a treatment. At 30%, nausea, difficulty breathing, and an elevated heart rate start to appear. Google Maps. West Virginians became the prototypical hillbillies, and incest served as a crude scientific explanation for their downtrodden social condition. Cut off from contact with the wider population, they married cousins, aunts and other closely related kin, which greatly increased the odds of inheriting the condition. Population: 5,258Walmart rank: 1stChew factor: 1stAmmo per capita: 9th. John Stacy still lives on Lick Branch of Ball Creek. Dennis 4 Comments. The state capital is Charleston. 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. Grafton has the highest percentage of its population that didnt finish high school. West Virginia History Timeline. The Blue People of Kentucky were first diagnosed with methemoglobinemia in the 1960s by Dr. Madison Cawein, a noted hematologist. It reduced the brightness of the blue on their skin. He married Elizabeth Smith, who carried a recessive gene for a genetic condition called methemoglobinemia, which gives those who have it blue-toned skin, even though they are otherwise perfectly healthy. 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. "I started asking them questions: 'Do you have any relatives who are blue?' It was caused, Scott speculated, by an absence of the enzyme diaphorase from their red blood cells. This information supplied by John Graves whose uncle was the father of the child. Zach took the doctor even farther up Copperhead Hollow to see his Aunt Bessie Fugate, who was blue. However, it has the ability to change the blue hemoglobin back to a normal color, and remove the blue tone from their skin almost instantly. Bessie had an iron pot of clothes boiling in her front yard, but she graciously allowed the doctor to draw some of her blood. The region's first coal miners primarily were African Americans, both enslaved and free. A new playing surface, FieldTurf Revolution 2.5, was installed in 2016, giving West Virginia one of the country's safest and most . Called methaemoglobinaemia (commonly known as met-H), the condition reduces the individuals ability to carry oxygen in their blood. The gene would most likely appear in an inbred line. She looked like she was having a heart attack. 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. Houses belonging to people that lived in the valley were mostly torn down. It would be hard to doubt this gracious man except that you cant find another person who knew Luna who doesnt remember her as being blue. The Fugates are of French Huguenot descent, with the original immigrant ancestor coming over from France in about 1820. Blood is also likely to be a chocolate brown color instead of bright red in patients with methemoglobinemia. Population: 9,277High school graduation rate 73%Chew factor: 3Gun stores: 5th. The lightness or darkness of the blue depends on the amount of the substance the person has circulating in them from birth. Finding it ridiculous herself, the Informant told me that she still enjoys being a part of the joke. Most lived to their 80s and 90s without serious illness associated with the skin discoloration. When Eleanor Roosevelt visited West Virginia mining towns in the 1930s, national newspapers ran pictures of rundown shacks and barefoot kids in rags, which left a lasting impression of the state as a backwater. 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. It's also, in part, out of fear. I was actually born with my twin sisters fetus inside me. One could inherit the gene, not get the blood disorder, but pass the gene on to a child. It like to scared me to death! The risk skyrockets if you're sharing blood.". "Methomoglobin is an oxidized form of hemoglobin that has a decreased affinity for oxygen, resulting in a reduced ability to release oxygen to tissues." Doctors were so astonished by the color of Benjy Stacys skin that they raced him by ambulance from the maternity ward in the hospital near Hazard to a medical clinic in Lexington. 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. Had you guys just ditched school even more, you might have won this whole thing. 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. Additional comment actions. Laurel Wheeler and family, Buena Vista, Rockbridge County, Virginia. *. If enough blood is "infected" with this faulty type of hemoglobin, it changes from red to an almost purple-ish dark blue. In 1820, Martin Fugate, who is believed to have been blue, moved to Troublesome Creek from France and just happened to shack up with Elizabeth Smith, who also carried the gene. The area was never. 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. Whoo-whee, New Martinsville! If this conversion continued, all the bodys hemoglobin would eventually be rendered useless. "She had been out in the cold and she was just blue!" recalls Pendergrass, who is now 69 and retired from nursing. Everyone knew the blue Fugates were healthy people. 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). 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. He injected the Ritchie siblings with 100 milligrams of the blue dye and didn't have to wait long to see results. The Fugate family didnt leave the area for generations, continually intermarrying with relatives. Correction, June 9, 2008: The article originally stated that a handful of states allow marriages between first cousins. 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. Faris, David. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. 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. He knew the same thing was happening in this secluded corner of Appalachia. Patrick was all hunched down in the hall. Habitat: Thick shrubbery and areas with tall trees. My grandmother Luna on my dads side was a blue Fugate. The American Heart Association had a clinic in Hazard, and it was there that Cawein met a great big nurse who offered to help. Google Maps. The gold of the helmet did not reflect the gold utilized in our colors today. Methemoglobinemia is one of the rare genetic conditions that's treatable with a simple pill. Cawein and his colleagues published their research on hereditary diaphorase deficiency in the Archives of Internal Medicine (April, 1964) in 1964. 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. 3. All rights reserved. Theyre normal people theyre good people. Cancel any time, no strings attached. Plus, we thought why not add in a few stereotypes? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. There are still blue people around today, but some of them developed their blueness from ingesting colloidal silver. Appearance: Blue grosbeaks are medium birds about 8 long, large, bright blue, with large silver bills, and chestnut wingbars. Lunas father, Levy Fugate, was one of Zachariah Fugates sons. Blow your mind. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Give the gift of knowledge with our official 'did you know' book. 2 They werent sick; it was just the way they look. the mans picture at the bottom got his unusual color from taking silver nitrate which will turn anyone blue if it is taken over a long period of time. Everyone knew the blue Fugates were healthy people. All he needed was a substance that could "donate" a free electron to the methemoglobin, allowing it to bond with oxygen. Archives of Internal Medicine, April, 1964.2. (Martian Survivors). 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. Finally, one day when the frustrated doctor was idling inside the Hazard clinic, Patrick and Rachel Ritchie walked in. Fugates married other Fugates. But as Kentucky became more populated and more genes came into the Fugate family tree, there were far fewer children born blue. One relative describes her as blue all over, and another calls Luna the bluest woman I ever saw.. The Blue Ridge Mountains In West Virginia Were Named One Of The 50 Most Beautiful Places In The World We all know the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia are stunning, and it's about time the rest of the world took notice. As a result of a coincidental meeting of recessive genes, intermarriage and inbreeding, members of the Fugate family were born with a rare condition that made them visibly discoloured. Explainer thanks Edwin Arnold of Appalachian State University, Anthony Harkins of Western Kentucky University, and David Hsiung of Juniata College. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Scott also concluded that the condition was inherited as a simple recessive trait. By the end of this spectacular journey, you'll be saying "I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED BUT I LOOOVED IT." Read more Blue Man Group 4,830 reviews Have you ever heard the song, Blue Moon of Kentucky? Its pretty well-known and popular. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. The reasons for this almost have to do entirely with coal. Blue Man Group will rock your world. 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. Where people wear camo to church. 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. Start your free trial today to learn more about your ancestors using our powerful and intuitive search. Lives in the south or midwest (or West Virginia), Walmarts, Golden Corrals, Bass Pro Shops, and Dollar Generals nearby. He tested first for abnormal hemoglobin, but the results were negative. The female's primary color is light cinnamon with darker-colored wings. All them old fellers way back then was blue. Green human are possible. Admitted to the union as the 35th state in 1863, it is a relatively small state. He was a French orphan who knew nothing of his lineage. He had to drive eight hours back to Hazard to search out the Ritchies, who lived in a tapped-out mining town called Hardburly. If you stayed awake in high-school biology, you might remember that blood is red because red blood cells are packed with proteins called hemoglobin. From California herself, the informant was very curious to hear about what the people of West Virginia were like. Fear that more inflation will cost jobs. We see fit that they will grow up to be strong holler girls or boys. West Virginia's population has grown very slowly since the 1950s, at many times losing people . One day, one of the older mountain men cornered the doctor. Despite those incredible odds, this is exactly what happened with the Fugates. Chapter 1: The Climate of Post-War America Chapter 2: West Virginia - The Violent Heritage Chapter 3: Political Maneuvering Chapter 4: The Creative Act of 1919 Chapter 5: Getting Organized PART II Chapter 6: The Mine Wars, 1919-1929 Chapter 7: Depression and Recovery, 1929-1939 Chapter 8: War Service, 1939-1949 Diet: Insects, seeds, and grains. Today I have a healthy son/nephew who is slightly green in skincolor. However, the disorder didn't seem to cause any special health problems. They just accepted it as a part of who they were. GreenPower Motor Co. to begin manufacturing at South Charleston, West Virginia facility 'this quarter' Hot and cold: Up and down weather calls for adaptation for West Virginia's ski destinations; Morgantown (West Virginia) business owner who pleaded guilty to Jan. 6 charges sued along with Trump; This Week in West Virginia History Art Museum of West Virginia University, McGee Gallery View map. Then, in 2004, Abercrombie & Fitch released a T-shirt emblazoned with a map of the Appalachian state and the words Its all relative in West Virginia. In February, a casting director for the upcoming thriller Shelter put out a call for extras with unusual body shapes, [and] even physical abnormalities to depict West Virginia mountain people. She remembers the story very easily, most often humorously, because she remembers the manner in which her brother told her. Born Jan. 16, 1869, in Marion County, Ephraim Franklin Morgan went on to become one of West Virginia's governors. A stance in favor of new abortion restrictions. Edit Old Gold & Blue Page Most of the Fugates didnt seem to mind being blue. One of them even married his own aunt, and most of them had a lot of children who also married their cousins. They were like any other 1800s family except theyliked inbreeding. Its post office is closed in 1935. Blue People of West Virginia | . But by 3 years old and . 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. Read on below to see where your town ranked. 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. The search for blue people ensued. She told me that her family was the blue Combses who lived up on Ball Creek. The famous painting of the blue Fugates is not based on an actual family photograph, but was a composite illustration created by artist Walt Spitzmiller for a 1982 magazine article. Levy married a Ritchie girl and bought 200 acres of rolling land along Ball Creek. Methemoglobinemia is a rare hereditary blood disorder that results from excess levels of methomoglobin (metHb) in the blood. He concluded that inbreeding levels in Appalachia [are neither] unique [n]or particularly common to the region, when compared with those reported for populations elsewhere or at earlier periods in American history.. Eventually, the recessive gene began to disappear once coal mining and the railroad opened the community to outsiders. 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. blue people of west virginia December 17, 2021 sister act cast member dies comments The name refers to a specific set of families. Normally diaphorase converts methemoglobin back to hemoglobin. In normal people hemoglobin is converted to methemoglobin at a very slow rate. 15,898 100 A Cinephile's Guide to Biographical Films. People wore jackets and hats that had the slogan "Northfork West Virginia Basketball Capital of the United States." 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