Editor’s Note: Western North Carolina is rich with untold stories—many resting quietly in local cemeteries. In this Tombstone Tales series, we explore the lives of people from our region’s past whose legacies, whether widely known or nearly forgotten, helped shape the place we call home.
GLENDALE SPRINGS, N.C. (828newsNOW.com) – At Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Glendale Springs, North Carolina, rows of weathered headstones rest beneath the mountain sky. Some belong to well-known families who helped shape Ashe County’s history. Others, like Caleb Miller’s, are simple and easy to pass without a second glance. Behind the modest marker lies the story of one of Ashe County’s oldest residents, a man who lived nearly a century in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Caleb Miller was born in 1848, a time when western North Carolina was still a rugged frontier. He lived through wars, hardship, and the Great Depression, outlasting nearly every one of his generation. When he died in 1942 at the age of 94, The Skyland Post noted that Miller had “retained his keen mental powers” and could recall the early days of life in Ashe County with remarkable clarity.
Locals remembered him fondly, describing him as “old as the hills and twice as wise.” That bit of mountain humor carried a deep truth. Miller had witnessed the transformation of Ashe County from isolated mountain settlements into a more connected community shaped by roads, electricity, and progress.
The year before he died, Miller won a Skyland Post contest celebrating longevity and was honored as the oldest man in Ashe County.
Caleb Miller was laid to rest in the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church cemetery. His grave bears only his name, birth and death dates, and the simple words: “At Rest.”
It’s easy to walk past Caleb Miller’s grave without realizing the legacy beneath your feet. Yet his story reminds us that some of the most extraordinary lives leave only the simplest traces. A name carved in stone and a history worth remembering.
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Tombstone Tales: Caleb Miller, “Old as the Hills and Twice as Wise
A simple stone marking a remarkable Blue Ridge life.
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Tombstone Tales: JFK Motorcade Driver Buried in Waynesville
On the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the story of William Robert Greer stretches from Dealey Plaza to Western North Carolina.
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Tombstone Tales: Ben Wolfe, the brother behind Look Homeward, Angel
Ben Wolfe’s life was short, but his death left a mark that shaped his brother’s masterpiece and became one of Asheville’s most poignant literary stories.
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Tombstone Tales: The photographer who captured the soul of the Smokies
How George Masa’s lens, maps, and mountain hikes helped create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and shape the Appalachian Trail.
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Tombstone Tales: Lamar Stringfield’s mountain legacy
A North Carolina composer who brought Appalachian folk music to the concert stage rests beneath a headstone engraved with the notes of his lifelong song.