Charles McKnight, appellant, brought a case against Lawrence B. Taylor, trustee of the estate of John S. Smith and others. The dispute was over whether or not certain lands in Pennsylvania were part of the trust's assets that had been created by Smith for his children upon his death. The Supreme Court held that the land did indeed belong to the trust as it was included in an agreement between Smith and another party prior to his death which stated that all proceeds from any sale would be put into a fund for his children’s benefit; thus making it part of the trust's assets when he passed away. This decision established precedent regarding trusts and their ability to include property acquired after its creation but before its termination due to death or other circumstances beyond control of those involved with creating said trusts.

In the case of Charles McKnight v. Lawrence B. Taylor, Trustee, the Supreme Court was asked to determine whether a deed from an executor of a will should be considered valid when it did not include all necessary signatures and seals required by law. The majority opinion held that such deeds were invalid because they had not been executed in accordance with legal requirements; however, Justice Catron dissented on this point and argued that if there was no fraud or mistake involved then such deeds should still be considered valid even without full compliance with formalities prescribed by law. He reasoned that since the parties involved had acted in good faith and intended to execute a binding contract between them, their intentions should take precedence over technicalities related to formality requirements set forth under state laws. Therefore he concluded that as long as there is no evidence of fraud or mistake present in any given situation then courts ought to recognize contracts made between two parties regardless of any non-compliance with statutory formalities prescribed for executing documents like wills and deeds.