He invented a lubricating device that would lubricate a machine while it was still running whereas before you had to stop the machine to add oil which took to much time. It was used in everything from train engines to factory machines. This is where the phrase “The Real McCoy” came from. It meant getting the best equipment possible.
He was born in Colchester, Ontario. His parents had escaped slavery in Kentucky by traveling on the Underground Railway. He was sent to Scotland when he was 15 to study as an engineer but when he came back from his studies the only job he could get was throwing wood into the furnace on a train to keep it going.
By 1923 he was known throughout the world and his inventions were patented in Britain, France, Germany, Austria and Russia as well as Canada and the United States.
