Elijah J. McCoy

Elijah McCoy was born in Colchester, Ontario, in 1844, the son of runaway slaves who had fled Kentucky on the Underground Railroad. His family returned to the United States when Elijah was very young, settling in Michigan. At age 15, Elijah was sent to Scotland to study mechanical engineering. He returned to the U.S. and went on to become the most celebrated black inventor of his generation in North America, securing over 50 patents, most concerning the lubrication of steam engines. McCoy died in Detroit in 1929.