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Monday,
April 10, 2006
HISTORICALLY
SPEAKING
The
expression "the real McCoy'' means something that is authentic in its
quality, that it is not an imitation or a substitute. One of the theories for
the source of that expression holds that it originated with Elijah McCoy, who
resided and worked in Ypsilanti in the late 1800s.
Elijah McCoy was the son of
George and Millie McCoy, escaped slaves from the American South. They had made
their way to freedom via the Underground Railroad, passing through Ypsilanti to
Canada. The family settled on a farm near Colchester in Essex County, Ontario,
where on May 2, 1844, Elijah was born. In the 1850s, the family returned to the
United States and settled in Ypsilanti.
George and Millie lived on
the Starkweather property, where George made cigars and transported the product
to Detroit where the market was. The family soon moved to a house on Congress
Street, where a large barn was converted into a cigar factory. At the same
time, George was active in the Underground Railroad, and sometimes carried
escaping slaves in his wagon.
When Elijah was 15 years
old, and the American Civil War was beginning, he went to Edinburgh, Scotland,
where he studied mechanical engineering. After the war was over, Elijah
returned to Ypsilanti. He sought employment with the Michigan Central Railroad
as an engineer, but because he was African American, the only position he could
find was locomotive fireman.
Being a fireman on a train
was physically demanding. He had to shovel coal into the engine's firebox at
the rate of two tons an hour. He also had the job of oiling the moving parts of
the engine when the train was taking on water. The need to stop and oil the
many moving parts of the engine caused many delays. Elijah McCoy turned his
mind to the problem, and working in his home, he invented what became known as
the lubrication cup.
McCoy received patent number
129,843 for his lubricating cup on July 23, 1872. Soon, others were selling
their own versions of lubricating cups, but often they were cheap imitations of
poor quality. The story about the expression is that railroad purchasing agents
acquiring new cups would ask if they were "the real McCoy.''
McCoy's lubricating cup made
millions of dollars, but little of the money reached him. As an African
American, McCoy lacked the money to produce the cup himself, so he had to turn
production over to others.
The modest sums he received
allowed him to continue his work. Eventually, he would hold some 80 patents,
most for lubricating cups. He also invented a folding ironing board and a lawn
sprinkler, but it is for the lubricating cup that he is most remembered.
Suffering from hypertension
and senile dementia, McCoy was sent to Eloise, a hospital, in 1928. He died
there that same year. Still, he was, as many believe, "the real McCoy.''
James
Mann is a local historian, storyteller and author. His books include
"Ypsilanti: A History in Pictures,'' "City of Ypsilanti Fire Department
100 Years,'' and "Our Heritage: Down by the Depot in Ypsilanti,'' written
with Tom Dodd. Mann can be reached at manjam@provide.net.