John C. Yerger, appellant, brought a case against William H. Jones and Robert S. Brandon, executors of the will of William Brandon who had passed away. The dispute was over an agreement between Yerger and Brandon that stated if Yerger paid off certain debts owed by Brandon he would receive half of the estate as payment for his services rendered to settle those debts. However, when it came time to pay out the estate after Brandons death neither Jones nor Brandon honored their agreement with Yerger leaving him without any compensation for his work in settling these debts on behalf of the deceased man's estate. In response to this breach in contract, John C.Yerger took them to court seeking damages from both men as executors of Williams' will due to their failure uphold their end of the bargain made prior to Williams passing away .

In John C. Yerger v. William H. Jones and Robert S. Brandon, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a deed of trust given by William Brandon in 1845 could be enforced against his estate after he died in 1850 without being recorded before his death as required by law at that time. The majority opinion held that it could not because it had not been properly recorded according to the statute of limitations; however, Justice McLean dissented from this decision on two grounds: firstly, he argued that since there was no dispute over the validity or authenticity of the deed itself, its failure to be timely recorded should not invalidate it; secondly, he contended that even if recording were necessary for enforcement under such circumstances (which he did not believe), then an exception should have been made due to equitable considerations which would allow for enforcement despite non-compliance with statutory requirements in this case where all parties involved acted honestly and fairly throughout their dealings with one another prior to Mr Brandon's death.