We don't remember the exact year, but Emily and David Gregory moved to Virginia Beach, where their only child, Emily Holland, was raising a family of her own in a house at 12th Street and Atlantic Avenue.

Emily's best friend, Dora K. Crittenden, formerly of Cooperstown, opened her home on 11 th Street to them. 'Aunt Dora' -- who was actually no relation -- had lived in the house with her stepmother. The story of how Dora's father was allowed to pass through enemy lines during the last days of the Civil War to attend his wife in a difficult childbirth is still remembered in our family. Dora's mother died, and the newborn baby was carried a distance through a Vermont winter to relatives who could care for her. Simeon Crittenden married again. The second Mrs. Crittenden, a Mrs. Molyneaux, brought Dora up and was a loving companion to her until her death.

David and Emily also grew old in the house, dying in 1932 and 1936, respectively. Dora, who never married, lived to be 99, and my mother remembers visiting her.

David and Emily's eldest great-granddaughter, Emily Holland, remembered visiting them in the house as a young girl. Before her untimely death in 1987, cousin Emily compiled her memories and made charming illustrations for them. My mother has preserved a copy of these memoirs, which are reproduced below.

(My mother points out that this was a misunderstanding. Dora was in no way Nana's housekeeper, but the owner of the house.)