The Oakwood Estate is a house in

Winchester, Kentucky Winchester is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Clark County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 18,368 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lexington-Fayette, KY Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winchester is located ro ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1979 as Alpheus Lewis House. It is a one-story home on a raised basement, with

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

details. With . The Oakwood house, on the Lewis Estate, has a history that dates from the ante-bellum era. The house is on the banks of Stoner Creek, about a mile off of Wades Mill Rd. At the time the house was built, it was home to Alpheus Lewis Sr., his wife and nine children. He was born in 1799. His father was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and a member of the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been establishe ...

and acquired of land which he eventually divided among his sons. Alpheus built his house, which he later named Oakwood. He created a wine business known as "A. Lewis and Sons". Lewis' son, Alpheus ("Ack") Lewis Jr's time in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, made Lewis and his home well known in Kentucky. Captain Ack Lewis had important papers to deliver to the Confederate General,

Braxton Bragg Braxton Bragg (March 22, 1817 – September 27, 1876) was an American army officer during the Second Seminole War and Mexican–American War and Confederate general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, serving in the Western ...

. His route took him past his parents' estate, where he stopped and his mother immediately took precautions by sending their most trusted servant, "Wash", to be stationed outside to look for Union troops. At about two in the morning, Wash gave the signal that Union troops were approaching the house, looking for Ack. His mother threw his dirty Confederate clothes in the fire and hid him in the secret wine cellar through a trapdoor just as the troops knocked on the front door demanding to search the house. Mrs. Lewis answered and graciously welcomed them into the home. She served them the best wines from the cellars. It is said she treated them so well while they were at the house, they only made a partial search and left. Then, Ack got up from the cellar and made his escape. The condition of Oakwood today is deteriorating with major instabilities in the structure. The backyard however may still have a rail fence made completely of stone, a rarity. Behind it are the graves of Alpheus Lewis Sr. and his wife Theodosia.

References

*Winchester Sun article{{when, date=January 2014 *Excerpt from the diary of Theodosia Lewis *https://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/pr_display.cfm/1031714 National Register of Historic Places in Clark County, Kentucky Houses in Clark County, Kentucky Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky 1820 establishments in Kentucky Greek Revival architecture in Kentucky Houses completed in 1820