This Supreme Court case involved the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston Rail-Road Company (plaintiffs) suing Thomas W. Letson (defendant). The defendant had purchased a ticket from the plaintiffs for travel on their rail line but failed to pay for it. The defendant argued that he was not liable because of an act passed by Congress in 1838 which exempted passengers from paying certain charges if they were traveling with baggage or freight. However, the court found that this exemption did not apply to tickets purchased after January 1st 1840 as there was no evidence of any intention by Congress to extend its application beyond that date. Therefore, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and held that Mr Lettson must pay for his ticket as per his contract with them when purchasing it.

In the case of The Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston Rail-Road Company v. Thomas W. Letson, the dissenting opinion argued that a contract between two parties should be enforced as written regardless of any other considerations or circumstances. The majority had ruled that an agreement made by Mr. Letson to purchase stock in the rail-road company was void due to his lack of capacity at the time he signed it; however, Justice McLean disagreed with this ruling and instead argued that if both parties were willing to enter into a contract then it should be binding even if one party lacked legal capacity at the time they agreed upon its terms. He further stated that while there may have been some fraud involved in obtaining Mr. Letson's signature on this particular document, such matters could not invalidate a validly executed contract unless proven beyond reasonable doubt - which had not occurred here - and thus he believed it should stand as is without alteration or amendment from either side after its execution has taken place.