This is Bob Myers from the Historical Society of Michigan with a Michigan history moment. 19th century America ran on steam. Elijah McCoy of Ypsilanti made it run better. McCoy was the son of an African American family that had escaped slavery and made its way to Canada via the Underground Railroad. Elijah was born there in 1843 and the family moved to Ypsilanti in 1858. As a boy, Elijah McCoy showed a talent for all things mechanical. An engineering education was almost impossible for an African American man to obtain in the United States, so his family sent him to Scotland for an apprenticeship. He returned as a licensed mechanical engineer, but getting a job in his field proved impossible. McCoy had to settle for work as a locomotive fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad. Part of his job was oiling the locomotives bearings. Steam locomotives were picturesque, but they needed an enormous amount of maintenance. They typically required one hour in the roundhouse for every hour they spent pulling rail cars. Every time the train made a stop, McCoy would climb from the cab with his oil can. Oiling all the moving parts took time and that slowed down the trains. In response to that time consuming work, Elijah McCoy invented a new lubricating device. It used steam from the locomotive's boiler to force oil from a reservoir that carried it to the locomotive's moving parts by way of channels. He patented the device in 1872 and sold it to Ypsilanti businessmen. It quickly found a market in factory engines, railroads and ships. The railroad finally recognized McCoy's talents and moved him from the locomotive cab to an office. McCoy left the Michigan Central Railroad in 1882 and became a consultant. He went on to patent many more inventions and and at the age of 77, opened his own manufacturing company. Some sources credit Elijah McCoy as the inspiration for the phrase the real McCoy, meaning a quality product and not an imitation. The story has it that railroad companies wanted McCoy's lubricators because they were the best and thus demanded the real McCoy. The phrase, however, predates McCoy, but his invention may have helped popularize it. Elijah McCoy died in 1885. In 2001, he was inducted into the U.S. national Inventors hall of Fame. In 2012, the Patent Service named its Detroit building The Elijah J. McCoy United States patent and Trademark Office. This Michigan history moment was brought to you by michiganhistorymagazine.org.