In the initial trial, the jury found for Parker. However, Hoyt motioned for a new trial, which the court granted. During the second trial, which took place July 9-24, 1850, the defense provided evidence via experiments conducted on Hoyt’s water wheels. These experiments demonstrated that the modifications Hoyt had made to his water wheels produced no effect on the movement of water through them. This called into question Parker’s fundamental claim that Hoyt’s modifications to his water wheels represented an infringement upon Parker’s patent. When Parker’s legal team conducted their own experiments, they only bolstered the defense team’s evidence by demonstrating that the technology Parker patented did not actually function. The jury found for Hoyt. Parker then motioned for a new trial, which the court granted, and the case lingered on through the early 1850s. In July 1855, Lincoln succeeded in having the case dismissed in the U.S. Circuit Court, Northern District of Illinois.

Lincoln appears to have interpreted the section of the act that discusses “return of process” to mean that lawsuits originating in Springfield would remain there for trial and could not be transferred to Chicago, even if the volume of lawsuits meant that they would be pushed to a later court session for trial.