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.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — On a quiet hill in Riverside Cemetery, a single white military headstone stands apart from the family plots and the long rows of veterans in another section of the cemetery. The marker is simple: Warrington D. Roath, Act Vol Lieut U.S. Navy Civil War.
There are no family names nearby, only the distant hum of the city. This peaceful corner of Riverside is where a sailor from Connecticut, who once crossed oceans and fought in two wars, found his final rest…