White House Historical Association

Thomas P. Roach

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"Thomas P. Roach," White House Workers History Project, White House Historical Association, 2026, https://whha.whirlihost.com/Detail/workers/684.
Position
Butler
Years in President's House
1920s
Legal Status
Free Person
Gender
Male
Race/Ethnicity
Black or African American
Presidencies
Woodrow Wilson
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Biography
Thomas Percel Roach was born in Virginia on October 24, 1881.1 He worked as a servant and waiter in several prominent households, including the Washington, D.C. home of government clerk M. L. Seawell and the Asbury, New Jersey home of businessman and banker W. Harvey Jones. (2) As early as 1920, Roach worked as a butler at the White House.2  Multiple employees recounted President Calvin Coolidge bestowing Roach with the nickname “Bug” due to his last name.3  During his time at the White House Thomas Roach was also credited with arranging for a “roast ‘possum” meal that President Coolidge had requested; according to Roach: “I was raised in Virginia, so I sure know how to cook ‘possum.”4  In April 1929, The Evening Star reported that Thomas was transferred to work as an assistant messenger for Secretary of State Henry Stimson.5  In the 1930 United States Census, Roach is listed as working as a waiter for a private family, but city directories and the 1940 Census list his occupation as messenger.6 Thomas died on January 40, 1942.7
  1. “Thomas P. Roach in the 1930 United States Federal Census,” Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0209; FHL microfilm: 2340032 https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/121214892:6224/; Thomas Percel Roache U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
  2. Thos Roach, 1900 United States Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Washington, Washington, District of Columbia; Roll: 160; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0044, Ancestry.com; Thomas Percel Roache U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.
  3. “Thomas P. Roach in U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1024559044:2469/.  This 1920 City Directory states Thomas as a butler at the White House, however, the 1920 US Census states him as a butler for a private family. This discrepancy may depend on his hire date at the White House or it may have been that he held both jobs. “Thomas P. Roach in U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995,” Ancestry.com. U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1160283000:2469/
  4. Lillian Rogers Parks and Frances S. Leighton, It Was Fun Working at the White House (New York: Fleet Press Corporation, 1969), 74. Irwin Hood Hoover, Forty-Two Years at the White House (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1934), 133;“Gotham Greeting Please Coolidge,” Evening Star, (Washington, D.C.), 13 Feb. 1924. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1924-02-13/ed-1/seq-11/; “Cook at White House Steps Aside to Let Butler Cook ‘Possum,” The Washington Daily News (Washington, D.C.), February 14, 1924, pg. 12.
  5. “White House Butler Transferred,” Evening Star, (Washington, D.C.), 12 April 1929. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1929-04-12/ed-1/seq-34/.
  6. “Thomas P. Roach in the 1930 United States Federal Census,” Year: 1930; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0209; FHL microfilm: 2340032, Ancestry.com; Boyd’s District of Columbia Directory (R. L. Polk and Co., 1934), pg. 1331;  Thomas Roache, 1940 United States Federal Census, Year: 1940; Census Place: Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia; Roll: m-t0627-00571; Page: 19A; Enumeration District: 1-522, Ancestry.com.
  7. “Deaths,” Evening Star, (Washington, D.C.), January 30, 1942, Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1942-01-30/ed-1/seq-14/. 
Birthplace
Virginia, USA
Unclear from Context
Related Workers
Irwin H. Hoover
Ushers, Stewards, and Doorkeepers, Trades, 1891 – 1933
Lillian Rogers Parks
Housekeeping and Laundry, 1929 – 1960