Reference the article for Blue Fugates:
Martin Fugate b 1820 was not the first to display the condition of methemoglobinemia (causing blue skin) in the Fugate lineage. There were at least two lines of the Fugate family descended from the Russell County Fugates with the condition.
The Fugate Family of Russell County'[1]' concentrates on documenting genealogy and generally only mentions M as an aside (such as "Blue Gabe") but does discuss that Martin b 1783 son of Benjamin married a woman who carried the gene in a footnote:
"The parents of Mary, wife of Martin Fugate, have not been identified. The understanding of an inherited medical condition in her descendants provides some basis for speculation as to her identity. A number of descendants of Martin & Mary Fugate and of Martin & and Elizabeth (Smith) Fugate (and in a number of other Breathitt families) have been determined to have a rare inherited blood disorder called methemoglobinemia..." (Faris, p. 33)
This Martin is the generation previous to the famous Martin b 1820. Famous Martin is the grandson of William, not Benjamin. There are several more descendants of brothers William and Benjamin with the condition before, at the same time, and after Martin and Elizabeth. Martin (b 1820) and Elizabeth appear to be somewhat in the middle of the bloom of M, rather than the beginning.
Faris, D. (1986). 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. Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc.
- ^ Faris, 1986