Willis Green : pioneer and founder, ancestry and descendants

              The House
Turned Around
Waveland, built in 1800 bv Nominee Stevenson's
ancestors, did an about-face as thing* changed
ii
HEN A^iai Stevenson <&•& calapti
into tir national hrnfl.ghi wtihoui
hfnru d finder 50 were Mr znd Mrs
Er«kme * Dam ill* Wurvout biting :
<•
Tne F r u r* sudaen prominence 1^ bt
the r cnmiorubie brick Icrrnnouie,
pf%r^ t*i*y\- -jj peacciui>> i " — >car;
ir:nj ~ ! a - i \ of four daughters
* • •
rc
II E L E N L A V T O N , Cuuricr-Jnurnml Staff Writer
It was Green uho named the spot Wave-land
because of the wavy contour of \h? iznd
His wife was Sarah Reed. Their marriage
in 1783 *va> one of trie first maiTUKCS be
tween •-vhiie settlers in Kestucky
Materials for builamp the line mansion
were right on the place Tnere *as ample
umber—bbek uainut for the chiors and ucaJ-AurK.
a*b ior me floors, aril poplar for otner
con^tr union Brick uas made of me clay from
the oascment excavation.
According to the late Calvin Morgan Faek-
Icr, in hi- 'Historic Homes of Boyle." 'Knur
touches- hart m b^ acded by imported crafts
men His rWilii? Greens/ brothc .• -law,
James Birne>. iiad j tm completed his house
Woodtawn. He had brought back Irorri phila
Dhsa. after one of his buying trips, some
the city's skilled workmen, it is said, t<>
embellish its rooms Having i; rushed their
ta^k at Woodlnwn, they were sent over to
Waveland for the same purpose/'
ftaui UavelanJ ioc«u-d <*n 2 229-
zsiry l2T~ on the Hustonville Pike, has
iu^tni^-u past, which nobody noticed
;h until S:e* enson became the Democratic
_n •..,•*•• fjr President
Stevenson ancestor*; built the house in
:.:-..* IT :arriiiv lived there fvr several
^iteration* V :*en this uecame pu^ucued sev-r.
« uion!h* ate. "he nut^e became almost a
.- ,,: shrine overnight
\irs Er^sus* :s eood nntjred aoou! Lahin^
jht Aerrs tnrough the hOLae. any time of
idV or dish:
A woman *nose name Mrs Erskine can't
ecall wai GL;EP emotional when conducted
rou£h the nnyse In front of one of the
mel> carved manteis. Lht* lady burst into
lears *tnd said. "1 was married right here/1
Mrs Erskine didn't determine whetner she
erected the marriage or whether it was just
ren- n ; s n r ; mat brou^nt the tears
One day. two years ago. a visitor arrived
>ee Wiiveiaod Mrs Erskine was out at the
me nut as is the custom at her house, some
•ne srraciottsly escorted the man around
Thiv visitor turned out to be Adiai Ste^jen
».n_ w fcr *i3 in Danville to receive an
mnnrary decree at Centre College
Mrs Er^kiae recalls that he was brought to
1 >avel2m: by M;s Amelia Rikerr Harrodsburg
Of course tue house has always attracted
*me attention as would any historic home
n the Bluegrass Although altered with the
ear*, it has retained its original good looks
The Ershmes mud<*rnized the house, in
railtng a furnace, one bathroom, running
w.'.er and electricity They papered a
minted, but made few structural changes
They rwno*ed the porch at the back
ne house, leaving the seven old semicircular
tone steps at the door there Mrs. Erskine
**iie\es thi* is the way the house originally
*okc1
\
\ ANY rate, it's certain that the present
ack of the house wa* once the front When
ne Hustonviiie Pike wa^ constructed to re
*arc the oid Wilderness Road, the original
»acK of the hfius^ became the front, and the
•wire nm* ftce« west instead of ea*t. a^ it
i"m ^ t # i r ^t
_ailing the hick door the front door didn't
effect tne int^r:or »r the exterior, as it would
:n so manv m ^ t r n homes.
For one thine, there is a center hall run-rang
frtwr ..t'Tii :o h.ick door So the gracious
entrance 11 ssitl ir.tact
Adiai St e^ensens great great grandfather.
Wi^is Green, who started the house in 1797
iiv* finiih*-d it in 1800. had skilled workmen
irom Philadelphia to carve the woodwork.
Willis Green bought the land on wh:ch
he «5uilr Wavelaad from Samuel Gtvens, who
married his wife's aunt Green, born and
reared tn Virginia's Shenaniloah Valley, had
come to Kentucky as a surveyor
can see lrom the picture on the facing
•
page what fine carving these workmen diM.
Notice the unu>uat fireplace in the present
back parlor with the flowered wallpaper Off
thi?: room is a vory small parjor with simple
woodwork that looks out in the front yard
Across the hall from the back parlor is
the dark gretn-walled library, with its very
intricate carving This room adjoins the
dining room, which also looks out on the front
lawn
When Willis Green finished building, he
u^d a 10-ronm, two-hall Georgian mansion,
two-storied, with basement and roomy attic
Originally there was a brcereway connect
mg with the house a cabin where the kitchen
was located. The breezeway has been inclosed
and the kitchen is now part of the house,
Willis Green died in 1813, and three years
later his wife died Their eldest son. John,
bought the house. John studied law under
Henry Clay, and often had his famous teacher
to visit at Waveland. The Greens were Whigs.
John's brother. Lewis, the last of the 12
Willi* Green children, was born at Waveland
in 1806 When he was 7, both parents were
dead, and John became his guardian,
Lewis's f;rst wife was Eliza Montgomery
She died and he later married Mrs Mary
Lawrence She was the mother of Letitia
Green, who wrd Adiai Stevenson, grandfather
ot tue presidential aspirant
Ur Lewis Green, who was in the first
graduating class at Centre College, ended his
career as Centre s president At one time he
was president nf Hampden-Sydney College in
Virginia and aft**r that president of Transyl­vania
College in Lexington.
After the death of John Green in 1838.
Waveland was purchased by Johns brother-in
law, Dr William Craig His wife was Martha
Eleanor, the youngest daughter of the Willis
Greens.
Dr. Craig died in 1854, and Waveland was
left to his son John J Craig, who lived there
till his death in 1914
After 114 years, Waveland left the posses*
sion of the Greens and Craigs The house
passed to several owners before it became the
property of the Erskines. who are not Ken
tuckians but Ohioans by birth and, what's
mor are not Democrats but Republicans.
*
' 4Pfc
V j l - V !
••en
'. * w. •>
*
t * \ i? ^ - 1 IM* f-iiirv woodwork jinl n u n t r ] in tli- iid< k [idrior*
tiriiiiTi.iIW llif from ^ijrlfir, v*rrr ltan<I^aarv^i1 from
iiajfitr riliitk vidlnui li\ rr;ifl^nien from 'rt;laii^ljjnJJ
& "* ,r
• "
' • T . - i 4 . i ?*.^K> *J+> i ni lawn
4 « ^ r *3
U ± the frnn! of the IIOUM- now—ha> ]it*rn sinrv the UtmKMivillr Pike **«* h u i h out of
Dan\it!f\ But Wforr thai, when lilt? old Wilih-nie^ Road w u in use. thi* wat- the rear
of WavrbinL for the Wildrrnr*!! Road, which it faced, panned a W * on the other wide.
In lhis*, OIK* of lite four up-
•fttjjir* hrdriH>in^ a I \^ sive-land,
the f t r r p l a r r on ont
-idr of the heil and fiif radi­ator
on Hie o t h e r >idn refleet
lhe eltjtftjiiii" times the house
ha?* .^een in it-* eentury an*
a half. N e \ t to tliii> morn ivn
a quilling rooni. 110%^ a ha
1 lie lihrary. pietured at the
left, in aero** the hall from
t h e hark parlor The inrri-eatelv
earvetl v*oodwork and
t h e manlel are tin original.*.
Waveland e o n u i n ^ 10 room?*
in all, plu* t%*o lar-ie ha
C n u / i t r l o u r n i l C*»loi* Pl»*t<
•
-
•
. <H