War taught him to endure.
Hardship forced him to adjust.
A tribute to the endurance of a Tennessee settler and the land that sustains him, B.Y. Harris’ remarkable life story mirrors that of his mountainous homeland. In 1835, a young boy and his family leave Virginia, traveling westward toward opportunity. They settle near the famed town of Bean Station, one of the era’s busiest stagecoach stops, in a prosperous region of fertile pastures and imposing mountains. There, Bartlet Yancy Harris and his siblings come of age and begin promising lives.
B.Y. marries Lucretia Gray, and he and his father-in-law enter the tobacco business. But relationships are complicated because the Harrises are anti-slavery while the Grays own slaves. As the Civil War begins, the families must make difficult choices, and the Harris men soon enlist. Meanwhile East Tennesseans face hardship throughout the conflict, and when the Confederacy and the Federals send troops into the region, the armies not only battle each other but confiscate food and livestock, leaving citizens increasingly desperate. As the war draws to a close, the brothers who return find family ailing, a sibling missing, and East Tennessee reeling…
Surviving History is the true story of B.Y. Harris and the women who love him as he journeys from settler to farmer and soldier to entrepreneur. In this compelling family saga he endures and adjusts while struggling to regain prosperity, discover peace, and provide for his ever-changing family.
