Elijah McCoy

Elijah McCoy invented an automatic engine lubricator used for trains and other heavy equipment. Previously, engines had to be stopped before necessary lubrication could be applied. McCoy's invention made it possible to lubricate engines while they ran, saving both time and money.

McCoy was born in 1844 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, to George and Mildred McCoy. His parents, who had been born into slavery, had fled Kentucky and arrived in Canada using the Underground Railroad. George decided to enlist in the British forces and was awarded 160 acres of land in return.

When McCoy was 3 years old, his family moved back to the U.S. and eventually settled in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where his father opened a tobacco business. From a young age, McCoy loved using his father’s tools and machines, and he experimented with different ways to fix and improve them.

Recognizing McCoy’s talent, his parents sent him to school in Edinburgh, Scotland, at age 15 to study mechanical engineering. After achieving the title of “master mechanic and engineer,” he returned to the U.S., but widespread discrimination prevented him from finding work as a mechanical engineer. So McCoy went to work for the Michigan Central Railroad as a fireman in the boiler room of trains.

As a fireman, McCoy’s duties included shoveling coal into the train’s furnace and lubricating the engine’s moving parts, axels and bearings. The trains’ engines required frequent lubrication, and McCoy learned that this involved an inefficient process in which the trains needed to be stopped and started, so he became determined to invent a better method.

Applying his education in mechanical engineering, McCoy developed an automatic engine lubricator that used steam pressure to quickly and efficiently pump oil where it was needed. He earned his first patent for this invention, known as the “oil-drip cup,” in 1872, and it was an immediate success.

Not only did McCoy’s automatic engine lubricator become a piece of standard equipment on long-distance locomotives, but it also was used on transatlantic ships and in factory machines. However, due to the invention’s ingeniously simple design, other railroads began creating similar versions, and buyers were wary of selecting inferior substitutes.

Historians believe that because McCoy’s version of the “oil-drip cup” was the most effective and carried the strongest reputation, engineers began asking for “the real McCoy.” Many still use this expression to refer to a trusted, quality product or service.

For the remainder of his career, McCoy continued to improve the effectiveness of his automatic engine lubricator. He also used some of the money he earned from his first patent to continue developing additional inventions. The Michigan Central Railroad promoted him to the position of instructor, and he began teaching others how to use his patented technology. In 1882, he moved to Detroit, where he became a consultant to the railroad industry.

At the time of his passing in 1929, he held more than 50 U.S. patents, primarily related to the railroad industry. In 2012, the first satellite office of the United States Patent and Trademark Office was named in his honor. The Elijah J. McCoy Midwest Regional Patent Office is located in Detroit.