This Supreme Court case involved William B. Alexander, Francis Swann, and Thomas Swann (plaintiffs in error) suing Elisha Brown (defendant in error). The plaintiffs claimed that they had a right to the possession of certain slaves under an agreement with Brown's father-in-law. However, the defendant argued that he was entitled to the slaves because his wife inherited them from her father. After examining all evidence presented by both parties, including testimony from witnesses and documents related to the inheritance of property rights between family members, it was determined that since there were no clear legal grounds for either party’s claim on ownership of these particular slaves at issue in this case; therefore neither party could be granted possession over them.

The dissenting opinion in the case of William B. Alexander, Francis Swann, and Thomas Swann v Elisha Brown was written by Justice Story. He argued that the court should have reversed the judgment of the Circuit Court because it had been based on an erroneous interpretation of a state statute. According to Justice Story, under Virginia law at that time, slaves were considered personal property and could be sold or transferred without any formalities such as those required for real estate transactions. Therefore, he concluded that there was no need for a deed from Elisha Brown to prove ownership since his title to the slaves had already been established through possession alone. Furthermore, even if a deed were necessary in this particular instance due to some other legal requirement not mentioned in either party's pleadings or evidence presented during trial proceedings - which would have made it impossible for plaintiffs' counsel to raise such an issue before verdict - then still reversal should be granted given how fundamental this point is when determining rightful ownership over persons held as property under state laws at that time period