Editors note: Lynbrook historical odds and ends is a column that takes a look back at some interesting facts and events in the village from over the years.
As reported in the South Side Observer of July 28, 1911, Mr. William Haff of Lynbrook, a wealthy coal dealer, returned home late one Sunday night and heard a rustling sound in his nearby cornfield.
He went in the house and grabbed his shotgun and a revolver. Returning to his yard he shouted, “Come out of that corn! I’ve got you covered!” Receiving no reply, he waited a few minutes and reportedly again shouted: “I am not going to tell you again. If you do not come out, I will shoot!” No response. More rustling. “I am going to count to three,” he said. “Then I will shoot!”
Hearing no answer, Haff counted slowly to three and fired. The rustling now increased. Putting down his shotgun, he pulled out his revolver. He pointed it in the direction of the noise and entered the cornfield in quest of the corn-thief he had just wounded with buckshot.
Suddenly he was struck in the side with such force that he was thrown quite a distance. As he recovered his senses, he saw his favorite cow exit the cornfield and gallop in the direction of East Rockaway.
Mattson is the official Lynbrook village historian and the director of the Historical Society of East Rockaway and Lynbrook. Additionally, he is the author of “The History of Lynbrook,” which is available on Amazon.com and at local libraries.
