Why Were the Fugates Blue?
The isolation kept the Fugates and their descendants away from the public eye, until the medical community became curious about their unusual coloration. The blue tone was a hereditary methemoglobinemia, which gives blood a deep brownish color that looks gray-blue through the skin. Martin Fugate had the condition, but Elizabeth Smith had the recessive gene. When they had children, some of them also showed the condition.
The Fugates isolation led to inbreeding, which makes it more likely to pass on the condition and have children with blue skin. The gene that causes the blue coloration seemed to have died out over time, but Benjamin Stacy, a Fugate descendent born in the 1970s, carried on the “blue” tradition, although his coloration became more traditional as he grew. The Fugate’s natural lighter skin tone made that blue stand out and made them Troublesome Creek’s most famous family.
