For years I tried to find the connection between my great-grandparents and a woman to whom they mortgaged their farm in the early 1900s. There was seemingly no connection. The woman was not related by birth or marriage to the great-grandfather’s relatively well-documented family and the great-grandmother did not really have any relatives in the area.

Several years after I had put the problem aside, I came across an advertisement that likely explained the connection. The ad was for a local lawyer who was also working as a mortgage broker for individuals with “money to invest.” The lawyer/broker’s advertisement indicated he could connect investors with individuals who needed money and could secure it with real estate.

Sometimes the connection is not what you think.