Elijah McCoy (born in 1843/1844 in Colchester, Canada, and died on Oct. 10, 1929, in Michigan) | Black History Month | Seneca Students

An engineer and inventor, Elijah McCoy had over 50 patents at the time of his death. He is most notably known for creating the oil-drip cup and the innovation for the lubricators of Steam Engines (Block, 2014). Mr. McCoy’s parents had escaped slavery through the underground railway and found freedom in Colchester, Canada. He grew up in Colchester, however he had to travel to Scotland for his engineering training. Upon his return to Canada, he was unable to find work, so he moved to the U.S. and settled in Detroit (Block 2014). His many inventions were successful, and he filed his last patent at age 72 in 1915 (Block, 2014). It is due to his contributions to engineering and not allowing racial discrimination to hold him back that many attribute the saying “the real McCoy” to Elijah McCoy (Block, 2014, para. 7).

Reference:

Block, N. (2014). In The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/elijah-mccoy