Reuben Gaunt Beasley (ca. 1778–1847), merchant and public official, was a native of Fredericksburg. By 1809 he lived in Bordeaux as a partner in the mercantile firm of Beasley, Bell & Company, and the next year he spent time in Hamburg as a partner in the London and Petersburg firm of William and John Bell & Company. In 1811 Beasley was appointed interim consul at London. During the ensuing conflict he served as the United States agent for prisoners of war, 1812–15, receiving much criticism from Americans confined at Dartmoor. President James Madison appointed Beasley consul at Gibraltar in 1815, but he declined the post. The next year Madison appointed him consul at Le Havre, a position he held from 1817 until his death, despite an abortive attempt by President John Tyler to remove him early in 1845. During his long tenure in Le Havre, Beasley helped introduce steam navigation to that city (Beasley, Bell & Company to John Bell, 14 June 1809, William Porter to John Dawson, 1 Oct. 1811, and Beasley to James Monroe, 2 May 1815 [all in DNA: RG 59, LAR, 1809–17]; Beasley to Monroe, 27 Sept. 1811 [DNA: RG 59, CD, London]; Boston Weekly Messenger, 22 Nov. 1811; Madison, Papers, Pres. Ser., 4:47–8, and Retirement Ser., 1:11–2; ASP, Foreign Relations, 3:590; Boston Gazette, 25 May 1815; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 2:627, 3:61, 62, 6:397, 7:249 [2, 3 Mar. 1815, 16, 19 Dec. 1816, 26 Feb. 1845, 22 Dec. 1847]; Beasley to Madison, [July 1816] [DLC: Madison Papers]; Baltimore American & Commercial Daily Advertiser, 2 May 1845; Michel Mollat, comp., Les Origines de la Navigation a Vapeur [1970], 31; Beasley’s death certificate, no. 307 in FrRoADSM: Ingouville parish register of births, marriages, and deaths; New York Anglo American, 19 June 1847).