Elijah J. McCoy

Elijah J. McCoy (May 2, 1843^[1] – October 10, 1929) was a Afro-Canadian inventor. McCoy had wanted to work as an engineer but was repeatedly frustrated in this goal due to racial discrimination. After studying engineering in Edinburgh, Scotland, and returning home to Canada, he found work as a fireman and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad. Working in a home-based machine shop in Ypsilanti, McCoy invented an automatic lubricator for oiling the steam engines of locomotives, boats, and so on. For this he obtained his first patent, "Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines" (U.S. Patent 129,843 ) on July 23th, 1872. Similar automatic oilers had been patented previously; one is the displacement lubricator which had already attained widespread use and whose technological descendants continued to be widely used into the 20th century. Lubricators were a boon for railroads, allowing trains to run faster and more profitably with less need to stop for lubrication and maintenance. Elijah J. McCoy, from uspto. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Year 1843 (MDCCCXLIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 283rd day of the year (284th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Black Canadian is a term used to identify a Canadian of African descent. ... For other uses, see Inventor (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Edinburgh (disambiguation). ... This article is about the country. ... Michigan Central Railroad operated in the states of Michigan, Indiana, Ontario, and Illinois in the United Statesand Canada. ... Nickname: Motto: Pride. ... A steam engine is a heat engine that makes use of the thermal energy that exists in steam, converting it to mechanical work. ... Great Western Railway No. ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The displacement lubricator is an automatic oil lubricator for steam engines first introduced in the United Kingdom in 1860 by John Ramsbottom. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ...

McCoy continued to refine his devices and design new ones, and after the turn of the century attracted notice among his African-American contemporaries. Booker T. Washington in Story of the Negro (1909) recognized him as having produced more patents than any other black inventor up to that time. This prolific output ultimately propelled McCoy to a heroic status in the African American community which has persisted to this day. He continued to invent until late in life, obtaining as many as 57 patents mostly related to lubrication, but also including a folding ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. Lacking the capital with which to manufacture his lubricators in large numbers, he usually assigned his patent rights to his employers or sold them to investors. Lubricators with the McCoy name were not manufactured until 1920, near the end of his career, when he formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company. By that time there were several substantial lubricator manufacturers in multiple countries. Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856 – November 14, 1915) was an American educator, author and leader of the African American community. ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... An iron Ironing or smoothing is the work of using a heated tool to remove wrinkles from washed clothes. ...

First page of McCoy's patent on steam engine lubricators

McCoy married Ann Elizabeth Stewart in 1868; she died four years later. He remarried the next year to Mary Eleanor Delaney and moved to Detroit. Elijah McCoy died in Detroit in 1929 at the age of 86, still suffering from injuries from a car accident seven years earlier that killed his second wife. McCoy had been a resident of the Eloise Hospital, a sanitarium in Westland Michigan, also known as the Michigan State Asylum before his death, suffering from dementia.^[2] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2320x3408, 54 KB) Elijah McCoy, Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines, US patent 129,843 (page 1 out of 2), patented July 23, 1872 File links The following pages link to this file: Elijah McCoy ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2320x3408, 54 KB) Elijah McCoy, Improvement in Lubricators for Steam-Engines, US patent 129,843 (page 1 out of 2), patented July 23, 1872 File links The following pages link to this file: Elijah McCoy ... Year 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Michigan State Asylum may refer to any number of early mental institutions in the state. ... For other uses, see Dementia (disambiguation). ...

In 1975, the city celebrated Elijah McCoy Day, as officials placed a historic marker at the site of his home. The city also named a street for him. Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

There is no consensus regarding the importance of McCoy's contribution to the field of lubrication. At one extreme, he is credited in some biographical sketches with revolutionizing the railroad or machine industries with his devices. At the same time, he is scarcely mentioned in the old lubrication literature; for example, his name is absent in E. L. Ahrons' Lubrication of Locomotives (1922) which does refer to several other early pioneers and companies of the field. Lubrication occurs when opposing surfaces are separated by a lubricant film. ... Ernest Leopold Ahrons (February 12, 1866-March 30, 1925) was a British engineer and author. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

According to some sources, the saying the real McCoy, meaning the real thing, derives from Elijah's invention, however this is disputed. The legend is that railroad engineers looking to avoid inferior copies would enquire if a locomotive was fitted with "the real McCoy". This account is disputed as there are other earlier origins to the phrase. Other lubricators were already in widespread use and lubricators with his name were not produced until the 1920's. Look up real McCoy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

In 2006, Canadian playwright Andrew Moodie wrote a play called The Real McCoy which chronicles the life of Elijah, his inventions and his personal tragedies until his death.