Alfred J. Roach
- Positions
- Fireman
- Engineer
- Years in President's House
- circa 1887 – 1889
- Legal Status
- Free Person
- Gender
- Male
- Race/Ethnicity
- Unclear from Context
- Biography
In 1887, a New Yorker named Alfred “A. J.” Roach was listed in the government register as a laborer for the War Department; however, he was included among known White House staff from the time, suggesting that he was detailed to the White House at that point.1 Two years later, he appeared in the register as a fireman at the Benjamin Harrison White House. City directories from the period list an Alfred J. Roach working as an “engineer,” a common synonym for fireman in this period.2
At the White House, Roach kept fires in the fireplaces located throughout public and private rooms and serviced the furnaces. Further information about his life and career is unclear, but by 1891, George F. Robinson had taken on the role of White House fireman, indicating that Roach was likely no longer on staff.3
- Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1887), 353.
- Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1889), 21. Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (Washington, D.C., 1889), 731; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (Washington, D.C., 1887), 718.
- Official Register of the United States (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1891), 21.
- Birthplace
- New York, USA
- Unclear from Context
- Related Worker
- George F. RobinsonTrades, circa 1891 – 1896