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The article discusses the story of an idiot savant slave who lived in Huntsville, Alabama in the 1800s. The story was written in 1847 in the "Brooklyn Gazette," and explains that he was the property of a Mr. McLemore, and was his master's favorite because of his gentle nature. He was able, however, to compute complex math problems without pen and paper, despite being illiterate, as all slaves were. It reports that many travelled to the plantation he lived on to test his ability, but were never able to prove that fraud was being perpetrated.

The article describes a story written by John W. Hanner, a staff writer for the Brooklyn Gazette, in 1847 about a slave in Huntsville, Alabama who belonged to certain Mr. McLemore. The slave who was born retarded was said to be unusual because although he was illiterate, he was a mathematical genius and could answer complicated mathematical problems in seconds without using pen and paper. Years later, no one knew what happened to the slave and no one could even remember his name.