As mentioned earlier, "Osceola," the Walton family home since the 1700s was lost after the War Between the States. The John Lytleton Tazewell family moved to a small, modest home in Amelia Court House. Bernard Peabody Holland set out to seek his fortune with his younger brother Walton. He mentions being at Virginia Beach in 1885, so he would have been 18 years old or younger when he went there. His brother was probably only 16. No one could tell of the early days more accurately or elegantly than he did in his off-the-cuff speech "The Early History of Va Beach" given in 1950. I leave it to you to read. In those days the railroads owned many resort areas and hotels. The lavish Princess Anne Hotel was one of these. It was the custom of very wealthy New Yorkers to spend part of the winter in the South. St Augustine, Florida, was a favorite place. It was a long trip by train and elegant stopovers were provided along the way. The Princess Anne Hotel was one of these. (It was located between 14th and 17th streets on the oceanfront. There have been at least two other hotels of that name located elsewhere, but this was the original. If you haven't seen the movie or read the book "The Age of Innocence ' -- book by Edith Wharton, movie by Martin Scorcese -- do. Rent the movie, not so much for the story but to see the lavish lifestyle in which my grandmother Emily Gregory grew up. You will recognize a lot of the tableware, furniture, gewgaws that we all grew up with at the beach house. My grandmother had a personal maid to pick up after her. They were rich!
Grandma hated that life -- except for the opera, which she loved -- and had box seats at the old Met. She particularly loved Wagner. Otherwise she found the life boring and superficial. She used to say of it "We sat and sat and sat, and then we sat some more." The only 'work' these ladies ever did was needlework -- which as you know came in handy later on and a bit of baking of special cakes and pies. She was also very well-read, an intellectual, and a gifted musician -- played the piano, violin, viola and sang. One winter she went to St Augustine with her mother and father. (David Henderson Gregory and Emily Weld Randall Gregory) They stopped at the Princess Anne Hotel and there she met and fell in love with the young Bernard Peabody Holland. And vice-versa. They say it was love at first sight. She was rich, intellectual and fat. He was slim, dapper and unintellectual (though far from unintelligent) Her parents persuaded them to wait a couple of years. They were married in 1895 in Cooperstown, N.Y., where her parents had a summer home named "Sunnyside."
"BP" was a man on the rise. He bought land. On the strip of land from the oceanfront to Lake Holly at 12th Street he built what they called 'the brick house,' now known as the DeWitt Cottage. Four of their five children were born in that house. Grandma didn't like living on the oceanfront. Also they felt the house was too small for their growing family, so they planned and built the house across the street which Grandpa named 'Ozone.' John, the youngest, was born in 'Ozone'. BP also bought land in the county, Bird Neck Point and Back Bay.
He was active in politics. He was one of the founders of the movement to incorporate the area into the City of Virginia Beach. It was chartered in 1907 and BP served as its first mayor. The mayor's "office" was in what we knew as the library of 'Ozone' He loved politics, duck hunting and fishing. I'm not sure exactly when, but he became very ill along the way. I know that it was about the time the boys, Walton, David, and my father were to go to college. Walton served in the Navy in WW I, so we can date the illness from about 1915 or so. He came close to dying several times. The illness was not diagnosed for several years. After a year, he felt honor-bound to resign from his job at the railroad and this left his family in desperate circumstances. About this time, the elder Gregorys' fortunes began to decline. Great-grandpa made a lot of bad investments and lent money to scoundrels. They were no longer rich and were unable to help the family. Grandma took BP to New York where the family owned a hospital room. Doctors there diagnosed the illness as an inflamed secum. The secum is the trap door that opens to let food into the stomach -- or so I am told. The doctor said that an operation would be life-threatening, so he returned to Va Beach still sick. He was sick for five years in all. Grandma did the following: Took in borders and/or rented out the house. She sent the children to Sunnyside and lived in the attic while summer renters lived downstairs. She opened "The Variety Shop" which had a lending library, yard goods, etc. She did knitting and sewing for people. She sold a valuable piece of jewelry and probably some other things. In this way she managed to send the three older boys to the University of Virginia. Cornelia (Nini), her only daughter, went to summer school there to take 'teaching' courses. She resented not being educated as well as the boys. Girls seldom were, but she had a right to resent it.
Emily cured Grandpa with diet. She banned caffeine and spicy foods from the larder. She became a fantastic cook. It was a remarkable feat for a woman who had never done any work in her life. Of course there was a price to pay, and Nini paid it. It was left to Nini, who was not much more than a child, to take care of her little brother John and to do many of the household chores. She had the help of a wonderful old black woman who had been with the family for years. Her name was Virginia Snead and I remember her well. She was a true member of the family and took great pride in us. She died in the library attended by Nini and David and Wrennie. Grandma always regretted sacrificing Nini. It was one of the last things she said before she died. It was not unusual in those days for the eldest or only daughter to take over the mother role, but Grandma realized that it was a tragedy. We all know that Nini was very much in love with a young man, and was forbidden to marry him. They bought her off with a trip to Europe and the promise of the property.
Grandma loved working, she loved the shop and when Grandpa recovered, she kept the business. Emily Gregory Holland was a wonderful, warm-hearted, intelligent lady and everyone loved her. People came to the shop just to visit with her or ask her advice. Her problem was that despite her great intelligence, "She thought with heart instead of her head," as my father put it. Her kind-heartedness was very costly both in human terms and money. She was what we would now call an enabler. She took care of people who for their own well-being should have been encouraged to take care of themselves. Nini did the same. Nevertheless, both were great ladies in the grand sense of the word.
After his recovery Grandpa opened a general store. He never got back on the success track again. During World War II, one of the rich Gregory uncles died in Switzerland and although there were 14 children born to Dudley Sanford and Anna Maria Lyon Gregory, there were not so many in Grandma's generation. She was left a nice legacy which could not be collected until the war ended. When she did get the money, she put central heating, new plumbing, etc into the house. Grandpa objected. Because of his stubbornness, Ozone was was one of the last houses on the beach to get electricity. My father advised her to invest the rest in the stock market, but she thought it a bad idea. If she had, we'd all be rolling in money today as this country took off after the war. However, because of the Great Depression people were afraid of the stock market.
She built Holland Court instead. Despite its fabulous location, the property was never upgraded into the money-maker it should have been. Money isn't everything, but it was a false economy. They could have helped those they cared about with money far more effectively. Everybody lost. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but sadly it didn't work the way it should have. Emily died in 1949. BP lived for many years after that, and died at the age of 93. The couple and their children are buried in Eastern Shore Cemetery, Virginia Beach.
Ann Francis Holland