Sidney E. Collins appealed to the United States Supreme Court after a lower court ruled against him in his dispute with Drury Thompson, William F. Cleveland, and James Campbell's widow, heirs, and devisees over land ownership rights in Missouri. The case centered around whether or not Collins had legally acquired title to certain tracts of land from the U.S government under an act of Congress passed in 1820 that allowed for pre-emption claims on public lands within the state of Missouri by settlers who had been living there prior to December 20th 1803. After examining all evidence presented by both parties involved it was determined that while Collins did have legal possession of some parts of the disputed property he could not prove that he held valid title as required by law due to lack of proper documentation proving his claim which led to a ruling against him at trial level being upheld upon appeal before the US Supreme Court.

In the case of Sidney E. Collins v. Drury Thompson, William F. Cleveland, and James Campbell's Widow, Heirs, and Devisees, Justice Grier dissented from the majority opinion that held that a deed was valid even though it did not include an acknowledgment by the grantor before two witnesses or a magistrate as required by state law. In his dissent he argued that such an omission rendered the deed invalid because it failed to comply with statutory requirements for its execution; thus depriving Collins of his right to recover title to land in dispute between him and other parties involved in this case. Furthermore he noted that since there were no exceptions taken at trial regarding this issue then all evidence should have been considered admissible regardless if it complied with statute or not which would have allowed Collins' claim to be heard on its merits rather than being dismissed due to technicalities related solely to formality of execution of deeds under state law.