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W and H were married on board the steamship Leviathan when the ship was 40 miles out from the port of New York. The captain performed the ceremony. W and H freely consented to the ceremony. Cohabitation followed the ceremony. However, the question of whether the parties were lawfully married soon ensued. H (D) prior to the performance of the shipboard ceremony had been a married man, and his former wife got a divorce decree against him in New York because of adultery. As part of the divorce, D could not marry another during the life of his former wife and his former wife was alive when D married W (P) on board the ship. The question before the court was whether the laws of New York applied to the ship and ergo the marriage was invalid.

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