Elijah J. McCoy -- USA

Elijah J. McCoy was a black Canadian-American inventor and engineer, that was issued more than 57 patents, his best known invention was an automated device that fed lubricating oil to machine bearings.  Machinists and engineers who wanted genuine McCoy lubricators at times would use the expression "the real McCoy."

Elijah J. McCoy was born in 1844 in Colchester, Ontario, Canada to George and Mildred McCoy, who were former slaves who had escaped from Kentucky to Canada via the “Underground Railroad” In 1847.  George McCoy was awarded 160 acres of land for his service in the British forces.  At an early age, Elijah showed a mechanical interest, recognising his abilities George and Emillia saved enough money to send Elijah to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he could study mechanical engineering.  After finishing his studies as a certified mechanic and engineer he moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan United States after the Civil War “Emancipation Proclamation."

Despite his numerous qualifications McCoy could only find work as a fireman and oiler at the Michigan Central Railroad.  Elijah was responsible for ensuring that the train was well lubricated, after a few miles, the train would be forced to stop and he would have to walk alongside the train applying oil to the axles and bearings.  In an effort to improve efficiency and reliability, McCoy set out to create a method of automating the task.  Working in his spare time at home McCoy developed inventions and improvements.  He invented an automatic lubricator for oiling locomotives and ships, he received a patent for the device later that year.  The "lubricating cup" had enormous success and orders came from railroad companies all over the country.  Other inventors attempted to sell their own versions of the device but most companies wanted the authentic device, requesting "the Real McCoy."

Lubricators were a boon for railroads, as they enabled trains to run faster and more profitably with less need to stop for lubrication and maintenance.  Lacking the capital to manufacture his lubricators in large numbers, he usually assigned his patent rights or a percentage of the rights to his employers, or to investors.  McCoy continued to refine his devices and design new ones.

He attracted notice among African-American contemporaries, Booker T. Washington in Story of the Negro (1909) recognised him as having produced more patents than any other black inventor up to that time.  This creativity gave McCoy a heroic status amongst African-Americans that 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. 

He is credited with revolutionising the railroad and machine industries with his devices, the saying the real McCoy', meaning the real thing, has been associated with Elijah McCoy's invention for which he was well known.  This was mentioned in Elijah McCoy's biography at the National Inventors Hall of Fame.  Lubricators with the McCoy name were not manufactured until 1920, near the end of his career, when he formed the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company to produce his works.

in 1868 McCoy married Ann Elizabeth Stewart; she died four years later, then in 1873 he married for the second time, to Mary Eleanor Delaney, Elijah McCoy died in Detroit in 1929 at the age of 86. He had continued to suffer from injuries from a car accident seven years earlier in which his wife Mary had died.  In 1966, an ad for Old Taylor bourbon used a photo of Elijah McCoy and the expression "the real McCoy", ending in this tag line: "But the most famous legacy McCoy left his country was his name."  In 2006, the Canadian playwright Andrew Moodie wrote a play called The Real McCoy, which portrays McCoy's life, the challenges he faced as an African American, and the development of his inventions.  It was first produced in Toronto in 2006, it has also been produced in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, in 2011, where it was performed by the Black Rep Theatre.

In 1974, the state of Michigan put an historical marker (P25170) at the McCoys' former home at 5720 Lincoln Avenue, and at his gravesite.  In 1975, Detroit celebrated Elijah McCoy Day, and officials placed a historic marker at the site of his home, the city also named a nearby street Elijah McCoy Drive.  In 1994, Michigan installed a historical marker (S0642) at his first workshop in Ypsilanti, Michigan, then in 2001, McCoy was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio.

Senator Debbie Stabenow offered an amendment to the Patent Reform Act of 2011 to name the first satellite office of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, scheduled to open in Detroit, Michigan in 2011, as the "Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office."