Straw Man

My ancestor in Ohio had not completed paying for his federal land sale when he died in the early 1820s. The administrator of the estate was his son-in-law. The son-in-law wanted to buy the property from the estate (for a value agreed to by the court). However, it looked "strange" for the son-in-law, as administrator, to deed the property to himself as a private person. So he sold the balance of the claim to a neighbor who then sold the claim to the son-in-law. The neighbor only served as an intermediary and never really wanted the property. His role in the sale is what is sometimes is referred to as a "straw man."