This US Supreme Court case involves Sarah Turner, the wife of Jared D. Tyler; Eliza Turner, the wife of John A. Quitman; and Henry and George W. Turner, heirs and legal representatives of Henry Turner who had passed away. The United States is appealing a decision made by the Circuit Court for Mississippi that granted an injunction to prevent them from collecting taxes on certain lands in Mississippi owned by these individuals or their predecessors-in-title prior to 1833 when they were part of Spanish West Florida before it was ceded to the United States in 1819 as part of what became known as Adams County (now Wilkinson). The issue at hand is whether or not these individuals are liable for payment under federal law since they acquired title after 1819 but before Congress enacted legislation authorizing taxation on such lands in 1833.

In the case of United States v. Sarah Turner, Eliza Turner, Henry Turner and George W. Turner, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether or not a federal court had jurisdiction over a dispute between citizens of different states that involved land located in Mississippi. The majority opinion held that it did not have such jurisdiction as there was no diversity of citizenship among the parties involved; all were citizens of Mississippi at the time suit was brought against them by the United States government. However, Justice McLean dissented from this decision on two grounds: firstly he argued that although all parties were technically citizens of Mississippi they should be considered diverse for jurisdictional purposes due to their differing interests in relation to each other; secondly he argued that even if diversity could not be established then Congress had granted federal courts power over cases involving real estate situated within its boundaries regardless of citizenship status.