Although the name
Elijah McCoy may be a mystery to most people, the scale of his ingenuity and
the quality of his creations have created a level of distinction which bears
his name. Elijah was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada on May 2, 1844. His
mother and father were George and Emilia McCoy, former slaves from Kentucky who
ran away by using the Underground Railroad. He studied mechanical engineering
in Edinburgh, Scotland were he became a “master mechanic and engineer.”
Elijah relocated to Ypsilanti, Michigan but was incapable to
obtain work as an engineer. He was thus pressed to accept a position as a
fireman\oilman on the Michigan Central Railroad. As a fireman, McCoy was
trusted for shoveling coal onto fires that would help to give off steam that motorized
the locomotive. As an oilman, Elijah was trusted for making sure that the train
was well oiled. After a few miles, the train would be required to halt and he
would have to go for a walk at the side of the train applying oil to the axles
and bearings.
In an attempt to boost efficiency
and overcome the repeated halting needed for lubrication of the train, McCoy
determined to come up with a method of automating the task. In 1872 he designed
a “lubricating cup” that could routinely drip oil when and where needed. He
received a patent for the piece of equipment later that year. The “lubricating
cup” met with substantial success and requests for it came in from railroad
businesses all over the country. Other inventors made an effort to sell their
own models of the gadget but most firms wanted the authentic device, asking for
“the Real McCoy.”
In 1868, Elijah married Ann
Elizabeth Stewart. Regrettably, Elizabeth died just four years later. In 1873,
McCoy got married again, this time his new bride was Mary Eleanor Delaney and
the pair would eventually settle into Detroit, Michigan together for the next
50 years.
McCoy continued to be intrigued in
continuing to improve his technology and to develop more. He thus ended up
selling some percentages of rights to his patent to finance developing a
workshop. He made ongoing improvements to the “lubricating cup.” The patent
application identified it as a device which “provides for the continuous flow
of oil on the gears and other moving parts of a machine in order to keep it
lubricated properly and continuous and thereby do away with the necessity of
shutting down the machine periodically.” The gadget would be altered and
modified in order to apply it to different types of machinery. Variations of
the cup would soon be put to use in steam engines, naval vessels, oil-drilling
rigs, mining products, in factories and construction sites.
In 1916 McCoy built the graphite lubricator
which allowed new super heater trains and devices to be oiled. In 1920, Elijah
started the “Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company.” With his new business, he
upgraded and sold the graphite lubricator along with other inventions which
came to him out of necessity. He formulated and patented a movable ironing
board after his wife expressed a need for a simpler way of ironing clothes.
When he preferred a less difficult and faster way of sprinkling his yard, he
designed and patented the lawn sprinkler.
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