Maxwell's Executors v. Wilkinson & Others was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a state court had the authority to enforce a contract that was made in another state. The case involved a contract between a man named Maxwell and a man named Wilkinson. Maxwell had agreed to pay Wilkinson a certain amount of money in exchange for Wilkinson's services. After Maxwell died, his executors refused to pay Wilkinson the money that was owed to him. Wilkinson then sued Maxwell's executors in a state court in Pennsylvania. The Supreme Court held that the state court did not have the authority to enforce the contract because it was made in another state. The Court reasoned that the contract was made in New York and was therefore subject to the laws of that state. The Court also held that the executors could not be held liable for the contract because they were not parties to it. The Court concluded that the executors could not be held liable for the contract because they were not parties to it and the contract was made in another state.

In Maxwell's Executors v. Wilkinson & Others, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over an action brought by executors of a will against non-residents in another state. The majority opinion held that the case should be heard in federal court because it involved citizens from different states and thus fell under the purview of diversity jurisdiction. However, Justice Field dissented on this point and argued that since no federal question was raised, there was no reason for the case to be heard in federal court rather than state court. He further noted that if Congress intended for cases such as these to be tried exclusively in federal courts then they would have explicitly stated so when enacting laws regarding diversity jurisdiction. Thus, he concluded that it would not be appropriate for a federal court to hear this particular dispute without clear congressional authorization indicating otherwise.