Perusing Babylon's Historic Past

My guess is that the folks in the Town of Babylon already know what a gem they have.

I sure hope so.

Back in April of last year I had the opportunity to meet Town of Babylon Historical Archivist Mary Cascone, a lively, energetic and intensely knowledgeable woman who, as luck would have it, also knows how to give sage advice.

I met Mary by sheer happenstance on a dreary, rainy late morning when my book research took me to the recently refurbished Old Town Hall building on West Main Street. I walked in, poked around a little bit then heard some rustling of papers and noticed this cheerful blonde-haired lady elbow-deep into some research of some sort.

Just the type of person I was looking for.

Amid the mountains of documents and ancient, rolled up town maps, Mary was busy at work ensuring that the town's history was well-kept and by everything I witnessed, it certainly was. I had no idea I was about to strike up a lengthy discussion about our mutual interests - as it turned out, we both had grandfathers who were somewhat well-known artists, but neither of us had heard of each other's grandfather, and in my case, great-grandfather.

She took time out of her busy schedule to make every attempt to answer my rapid-fire questions and we culled through a bunch of photo albums and things but there really wasn't much for me to see in terms of what I was looking for. I brought up that my great-grandfather, Everett Walsh (1903-1976) had lived for years on Oak Beach and that he was once known as "The Great South Bay Skipper," according to old issues of The Long Islander newspaper, and that he had led an incredible life as an artist in Manhattan, while basically living a second life on Long Island as a man of the sea (President, Freeport Tuna Club; Commander, South Shore Power Squadron, etc.)

I brought up that in September of 1938, he had led the South Shore Power Squadron and the 3rd Battalion of United States Marine Corps Reservists (Brooklyn Navy Yard) on "Land and Sea Maneuvers", culminating in a beach landing on Fire Island. I mentioned we had dozens of old family photographs of the massive-scaled event and that it had been reported in depth by the press. It was even filmed by then Hollywood filmmaker J.J. Madigan.

Some 56 South Shore Power Squadron and United States Coast Guard boats were utilized in this historic event. One can only wonder if the "Moving pictures" of it still exist. In any case, Mary was all ears when I gabbed about what little I knew of the "Fire Island" maneuvers and mainly, I quizzed her ad infinitum.

Alas, as helpful as she was, I wasn't certain I was going to undergo some sort of epiphany about my great-grandfather. I had miles to go.

The conversation soon turned back to Oak Beach and I mentioned that my great-uncle's wife still lived there, but I had not been able to get in touch with her and I feared that my long journey from Cape Cod to Babylon might not be as fruitful as I had hoped. 

"Just go see her," Mary said. "You never know. She might be there."

She had a point.

Heeding Mary's advice, I did just that and drove out to Oak Beach with spirits raised. In the end, "Aunt Pat" was indeed at home, and while we had not crossed paths in a decade, it was truly nice to see her and chat for an hour or so and catch a real glimpse of what I had come to see and find. Ultimately, I was rewarded with an opportunity to scan hundreds of old family photos that had been tucked away in the attic for eons and thanks to Mary's advice, my journey had become an instant and smashing success.