William B. Culbertson, the appellant in this case, was appealing a decision made by the District Court of Louisiana which had awarded damages to Henry B. Shaw and his co-claimants for their vessel, The Steamer Southern Belle. The Supreme Court heard arguments from both sides before ruling that the lower court’s decision should be reversed due to insufficient evidence presented at trial. In its opinion, the Supreme Court found that there were no facts or circumstances established during trial which could prove any negligence on behalf of Culbertson as it related to damage done to The Steamer Southern Belle and thus he should not have been held liable for said damages. Ultimately, this case serves as an example of how important it is for parties involved in legal proceedings to present sufficient evidence when making claims against another party so they can receive just compensation if warranted under law.

In the case of William B. Culbertson v. The Steamer Southern Belle, Henry B. Shaw, William M. Shaw, Elam Bowman, Sidney A. Lacoste and John De Sebastian (Claimants), Justice McLean delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the court should have held for the appellant on his claim to damages against the claimants for their alleged negligence in causing an injury to him while employed as a pilot on board their vessel by failing to provide him with proper instructions or directions concerning navigating through certain shoals and other dangers along his route of travel at sea. He further argued that it was not necessary for there to be any actual knowledge or notice of danger by either party in order for liability to attach; rather all that is required is proof of negligence sufficient enough so as to create a presumption that such knowledge existed between them when they entered into their agreement regarding navigation services provided by Mr Culbertson aboard their vessel during its voyage from New Orleans upriver towards St Louis Missouri where it eventually ran aground due solely attributable fault caused by lack thereof adequate navigational instruction given prior thereto embarkation upon said journey thus resulting in direct damage suffered thereby plaintiff-appellant heretofore mentioned hereinabove