McCoy, Elijah J.

Source:

 Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition

McCoy, Elijah J.

Sex:  Male

Born:  Colchester, Ontario, Canada
27 March 1843

Died:  Detroit, Michigan, United States, Eloise Infirmary
1929

Activity/Profession:  Inventor

1843–1929
American inventor whose work inspired the popular saying “the real McCoy.”

Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, one of twelve children born to Runaway Slaves who had used the Underground Railroad to escape slavery in Kentucky. Living in extreme poverty, McCoy's parents emphasized education to their children as the surest means of betterment. When he was fifteen, McCoy's parents sent him to study mechanical engineering in Edinburgh, Scotland, training that was impossible for blacks to get in the United States. After finishing his schooling in Scotland, McCoy returned to the United States with the hope of obtaining an engineering job.

Although a trained engineer with impressive credentials, McCoy was unable to find work in his field because of his race. He was forced to accept a job as a locomotive fireman with the Michigan Central Railroad, a position that required no engineering knowledge, only that he shovel coal into the engine and apply oil in the moving parts of the machine. McCoy found the work unchallenging and sought other, more productive forms of occupation.

It had long been considered a problem that railroad engines were unable to lubricate themselves. When in need of lubrication, the machines had to be shut off entirely, causing a loss in time and money. As this was a regular necessity, the industry found profit nearly impossible to realize. In his free time McCoy began to consider solutions to this problem, and after two years, he developed the “lubricating cup” for steam engines. According to McCoy the cup allowed for the “continuous flow of oil on the gears … thereby do[ing] away with the necessity of shutting down the machine.”

McCoy received a patent for his lubricating device in 1872. The lubricating cup was essential to industries throughout the world, and those in possession of the valuable cup were said to have “the real McCoy.” The lubricating cup was his most successful and well-known invention, although McCoy also obtained patents for an automatic sprinkler and an ironing table, eventually acquiring fifty-eight patents in his lifetime.

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