This Supreme Court case involved a dispute between Sarah I. Jewell and Benjamin Jewell over the ownership of land in New York State. The plaintiffs, lessees of Sarah I. Jewell, argued that they had been granted an estate for life by her father's will and that this should be recognized as superior to any claim made by Benjamin Jewell under his deed from the state of New York. The defendants argued that their deed was valid and superseded any rights held by the plaintiffs under Sarah's father's will. After considering both sides' arguments, the court ruled in favor of the defendants on grounds that their title was derived from a grant issued directly from New York State which could not be challenged or set aside without proof showing it to have been obtained fraudulently or illegally; no such evidence had been presented here so therefore it must stand as valid title to said property.

In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a deed of trust created by Benjamin Jewell in 1829 was valid. The majority opinion held that the deed of trust was not valid because it did not comply with certain statutory requirements. However, Justice McLean dissented from this decision and argued that even though the deed may have been technically invalid under state law, it should still be enforced as an equitable instrument. He reasoned that since both parties had acted in good faith and relied on their agreement for many years without any dispute or objection, equity demanded that they should be allowed to continue doing so despite its technical deficiencies. Furthermore, he noted that if the court were to deny enforcement of such agreements due to minor technicalities then there would be no incentive for people to enter into contracts at all out of fear they could later be declared voidable by a court ruling.