In the case of John B. Craighead et al., Appellants, v. Joseph E. and Alexander Wilson, two brothers had entered into a contract to purchase land from Craighead and his associates in 1851 for $2,000 with an agreement that they would pay half of the amount up front and then make payments on the remaining balance over time until it was paid off in full. The Wilsons failed to make their payments as agreed upon so Craighead sued them for breach of contract but lost at trial due to lack of evidence proving that there was indeed a valid contract between them both parties. On appeal however, the Supreme Court reversed this decision by ruling that although no written document existed between both parties outlining their agreement, verbal testimony provided by witnesses who were present when negotiations took place could be used as proof enough to establish a binding contractual relationship between all involved parties which meant that Wilson's were liable for breaching said contract since they failed to fulfill its terms as agreed upon initially.

In the case of John B. Craighead et al., Appellants, v. Joseph E. and Alexander Wilson, the dissenting opinion was that a contract between two parties should be enforced as written even if it is not beneficial to one party or both parties are unaware of its implications at the time they enter into it. The majority opinion held that since Craighead had entered into an agreement with Wilson without fully understanding what he was agreeing to, he could not be bound by his own words in this instance because such an interpretation would lead to unjust results for him and potentially other similarly situated individuals who were taken advantage of due to their lack of knowledge about contracts or legal matters more generally. However, Justice Catron argued that while this may have been true in some cases where fraud or duress were involved, there was no evidence presented here which suggested either had occurred; thus making it necessary for courts to enforce contracts as written regardless of any potential consequences on either side so long as all terms were agreed upon willingly by both parties when signing them initially.