James N. and Levi Dickson, plaintiffs, brought a case against William H. Wilkinson, administrator of John T. Wilkinson who had passed away. The plaintiffs argued that they were entitled to the proceeds from the sale of certain slaves owned by John T., as part of their inheritance under his will; however, William claimed that he was not obligated to pay them because there was no proof that these slaves existed at the time of John's death or when his will was executed in 1837. After reviewing both sides' arguments and evidence presented in court, it was determined that James and Levi were indeed entitled to receive payment for the value of those slaves since there is sufficient evidence proving their existence prior to 1837 - thus making them part of John's estate at the time his will went into effect.

In the case of James N. and Levi Dickson v. William H. Wilkinson, Administrator of John T. Wilkinson, Deceased, the dissenting opinion argued that a contract between two parties should be enforced as written regardless of any subsequent changes in circumstances or laws that may have occurred since its execution. The dissenters believed that it was not within their power to modify an existing agreement by introducing new considerations into it which were never contemplated by either party at the time they entered into it; thus, if one party had agreed to pay another for services rendered according to certain conditions specified in a contract then those terms must be honored even if such payment would now appear inequitable due to changed economic conditions or other intervening events beyond both parties' control when entering into said agreement originally.