written by, Donald Bayles
1999
THOMAS RICHARD BAYLES
son of Richard and Florence Bayles
born Feb. 4,1895 in Middle Island
died Jun.29,1977 buried in Middle Island
married Oct. 7,1916 Gertrude Benjamin (b. Jul. 2,1897 d. Nov. 5, 1990)
daughter of Gilbert and Clara (Hallock) Benjamin
children
Elwyn Richard born Mar.10,1919 - died Jan.29,1941 married Sep.15.1940 Marian Whiteman
Donald Miller born Dec. 10, 1923- living married Sep. 1, 1946 Virginia D. Faron
In 1910 Thomas took a six month course at a business school in Brooklyn which led to several bookkeeping jobs. When Thomas married Gertrude Benjamin in 1916 they moved into the west part of Richard's office building. In 1917 he took a position with the Long Island Railroad at its freight office in Camp Upton and except for several years during the Depression he continued a career with the railroad until 1958. Much time during his retirement years was devoted to. preparing papers and booklets about local history, In 1975 he donated most of his large history collection to the Middle Island Public Library. The library (now Longwood Public Library ) designated one room for the Thomas Bayles History Collection. After his death in 1977 Gertrude moved into a small house nearby and Richard's old office building was demolished
Albert was the mechanic of the family who repaired everything from watches to automobiles. At age 16 he bought a camera which used 5 x7 glass plate negatives and he proceeded to take photos of local homes and people. He did his own developing and printing, For several years he worked as a carpenter but maintained that it was not profitable because he spent too much time in achieving perfection in his work.
After Richard's death in 1930 Florence and Albert continued to live in the house and Albert continued his father's insurance agency. In 1976 Thomas's son Donald took title to the property and modified Richard's home so that it could be used for offices. The property was sold to the owner of adjacent property in December 1996.