Joseph Guitard, Frederick Steudeman and Mary his wife, and George Brown and Julia his wife (Plaintiffs) brought a case against Henry Stoddard (Defendant). The Plaintiffs claimed that the Defendant had wrongfully taken possession of their land in violation of an agreement between them. The Supreme Court held that the Plaintiff’s claim was valid as they were able to prove ownership over the property by showing title deeds which predated any other claims made by the Defendant. Furthermore, it was determined that even if there had been some ambiguity regarding who owned what portion of the land at issue, this would not have affected or invalidated their right to possess it since they were still legally entitled to use all parts of it. As such, judgment was entered in favor of Plaintiffs for damages suffered due to wrongful dispossession from their lands.

In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties was valid. The plaintiffs argued that they had entered into an agreement with the defendant in which he agreed to pay them for certain services rendered. However, the defendant claimed that no such agreement existed and refused to make payment. The majority of justices found in favor of the defendant and held that there was insufficient evidence to prove that any contract had been formed between the parties. Justice McLean dissented from this decision, arguing instead that there were sufficient facts presented by both sides indicating a valid contractual relationship did exist between them. He believed it should have been up to a jury trial rather than judges alone deciding on its validity or lack thereof as it could not be determined without hearing all relevant testimony from witnesses involved in making said agreement.