The 1930s era estate settlement of a paternal great-grandfather’s unmarried female first cousin indicated she held a mortgage on property owned by a maternal great-great-grandfather’s brother. They did live in the same county, but they were not neighbors, did not attend the same church, had different ethnic backgrounds, etc.
I could assume that they “had to have” some connection with each other, but was at a loss for what it was. It was not until I saw an advertisement placed by a county seat attorney who was also working as a loan broker that the connection dawned on me.
What they most likely had in common was the loan broker. His ad indicated he had “money to lend.” As an attorney in the county seat, he would have had easy access to court and land records which would have helped him to evaluate an applicant’s creditworthiness. While I don’t have concrete evidence, the advertisement strongly suggests that the cousin of my paternal great-grandfather–who had money–was one of those potential lenders looking for someone to whom they could loan money on a mortgage.
The connection between the two was likely the lawyer who was also brokering loans.
No responses yet