Forgotten Lives

By Randall Purtell

When nine-year-old Billy Jernigan watches his father ride away to fight for the Confederacy, the wound never heals. Left in Hardin County, Tennessee, with a struggling mother and six siblings, Billy grows up fast-driven by a restless need to escape the shadow of abandonment.

After the Civil War, he joins the tide of young men heading west, carving a life in 1870s Texas where land is cheap and second chances feel possible. Yet every mile from home carries a cost. As Billy builds a future, he risks repeating the very losses that shaped him.

Forgotten Lives is a powerful American saga spanning generations-tracing Billy's journey and the seventeen children who inherit its consequences in a story of family, legacy, and the price of becoming someone new.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GPQKSYZN
• ISBN13: 9798248963874
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 266 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 8.0"