Elija McCoy, African American Inventor
and resident of Eloise
Elijah McCoy, was the son of former slaves, and may be Eloise's most famous resident. He was born in Ontario, Canada in 1844, however was sold into slavery in Kentucky. He escaped before the Civil War began, and sailed to Scotland.
McCoy became educated as a mechanical engineer. And returned to the United States, sometime before 1872. He settled in Detroit, and began creating some of today's most important industrial machines.

His first invention was in 1872, and was a lubricator for steam engines. It allowed machines to remain in motion, while being oiled. He later invented the ironing board and lawn sprinkler.

McCoy has a total of 57 U.S. patents on file.

The term, "Real McCoy", refers to his oiling device, used for industrial machinery. When equipment inspectors would come to factories and inspect machinery, they would ask, if a machine contained the real McCoy, or not. Gradually this term became an expression used world wide, meaning, the real thing.

In 1928, McCoy was admitted to Eloise suffering from senile dementia, reportedly caused by hypertension. He died October 10, 1929, and is buried in Detroit.

There was no information listed with the history pages of Eloise, that I read, that refered to McCoy's parents, or which slave plantation or owner he had come from. But perhaps, some of the information above, will fit into a McCoy family history, and can be used to fill in a family tree.

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