The Fugates originated in France and made their way to Baltimore City MD around 1675. The early Fugates were located in Baltimore, and then in Mosquito and King George counties, Maryland. Their descendants moved into Russell County, Virginia and later, they moved into Magoffin County, Kentucky around Salyersville. Here Sarah Martha (Mary) Fugate married Archibald Prater. Other family members settled in Tennessee and Missouri.

A relative of Sarah Fuguate's, one Martin Fugate, claimed a land grant in 1820 and settled on the banks of eastern Kentucky's Troublesome Creek, with his red-headed American bride, the former Elizabeth Smith, whose skin was reportedly as pale as the mountain laurel that blooms every spring around the creek hollows.

Both Martin and Elizabeth carried recessive genes that caused a rare blood disorder which caused the skin to appear blue. Four of their seven children were reported to be blue. Compounding this unfortunate circumstance was the isolation of Troublesome Creek and the large concentration of cousins of both the Fugates, Smiths and others. Naturally, there has been a lot of inbreeding between cousins which has resulted in a number of blue-hued redhaired individuals. Enough to give creedence to the reports of a race of Blue People in Kentucky.