![]() ” Pioneered Concept of Continuous LubricationĪs a fireman, McCoy ’s primary responsibilities were to keep the firebox filled with coal and to oil the moving parts of the engine -as well as the axles, wheels, and bearings of each car -whenever the train was stopped. In those days, Klein noted, “engineering was regarded as white men ’s work. He spent many long and frustrating months searching for work in engineering before finally resigning himself to the menial job of a railroad fireman. Upon completing his studies in Scotland, McCoy joined them there. McCoy ’s family returned to the United States and settled near Ypsilanti, Michigan. While he was away, the Civil War broke out, and American slaves were freed. At that time, training of comparable quality was not available to blacks in either the United States or Canada. McCoy was only 16 when, with the moral and financial support of his parents, he traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland, to begin an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering. More often than not, he succeeded in repairing broken ones. From an early age, McCoy had a special fascination with mechanical devices and spent much of his free time tinkering with machines. He and his 11 brothers and sisters were raised on a farm near Colchester and attended a local grammar school for black children. ![]() The son of former slaves who had escaped from Kentucky to Canada by way of the Underground Railroad, Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, in 1844. An Early Fascination With Mechanical Things Served as a fireman on the Michigan Central Railroad, 1870-82 patented first invention, 1872 mechanical consultant to several Detroit engineering firms, 1882-1920 founded the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company, 1920. Education : Completed an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering in Edinburgh, Scotland. At a Glance …īorn Elijah McCoy, May 2, 1844, in Colchester, Ontario, Canada died in 1929 in Eloise, Ml son of George (a farmer) and Emillia (Goins) McCoy married Elizabeth Stewart, 1868 (died 1872) married Mary Eleanora Delancey, 1873 (died 1923). Among the household items he designed and patented were a folding ironing table, a lawn sprinkler, durable rubber heels for shoes, and a portable scaffold support. In his later years, however, he turned his attention to domestic concerns. ![]() Most of his patents -close to 50 in all -were for lubricating systems used in steam engines and factory machinery. In the 1880s McCoy was asked to serve as a mechanical consultant for several Detroit-area firms, and in 1920 he established his own business, the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company. His lubricating cup, patented in 1872, was followed by a host of other inventions, including a lubricator for use with air-pump brakes a graphite lubricator, specially designed to oil the new “superheater ” locomotive and a steam dome for locomotives. Whatever free time he had, he devoted to inventing and perfecting mechanical devices -particularly those that could help him in his work. For many years, the only job he could find was that of a fireman on the rapidly expanding railroads. ”Ī licensed mechanical engineer who had received his vocational training overseas, McCoy soon discovered that in the 1860s, just after the end of the Civil War, impressive qualifications were not enough to convince an American company to hire a black man for a professional, highly skilled position. Klein in The Hidden Contributors: Black Scientists and Inventors in America, “but it speeded up the railroads, and faster railroad deliveries spurred the economic growth of a nation. “McCoy ’s invention was a small thing, ” wrote Aaron E. In 1872 McCoy was issued a patent for his invention, and within a short time his automatic lubricator -dubbed “the real McCoy ” to distinguish it from the horde of less effective imitations that soon flooded the market -had been installed on locomotives around the country. After experimenting for two years in a makeshift machine shop, McCoy came up with a design for a special “lubricating cup ” that could be fitted into the steam cylinders of locomotives and other stationary machinery. He wondered if a mechanical device existed that could automatically drip the proper amount of oil into the moving parts of the engine whenever and wherever needed so that a train would no longer have to be stopped every few miles to be manually lubricated. Pioneered Concept of Continuous LubricationĮlijah McCoy was working as a fireman on the Michigan Central Railroad, shoveling coal and lubricating engine parts with a handheld oil can, when he realized that there must be a better, more efficient way of delivering oil to the vital gears, screws, and cylinders that kept the mighty locomotive engine running.
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