James R. Beverley

James Rumsey Beverley (June 15, 1894 – June 17, 1967) was an American lawyer and politician, appointed as attorney general of Puerto Rico, serving 1927 to 1932. During this period, he was appointed as acting governor of Puerto Rico in 1929 and in January 1932, he was appointed governor by President Herbert Hoover and served through 1933. He was the only non-Puerto Rican appointee of 15 from 1900 to 1952 who could speak Spanish before going there. He attended local schools and went to college at the University of Texas in Austin. He served in the United States Army during World War I as an artillery officer, serving in France. After completing law school at the University of Texas and starting work as a lawyer, he married Mary Smith Jarmon in 1925. Soon after taking office, he had to deal with agitation resulting from charges made by Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Nationalist Party, that Cornelius Rhoads, an American medical researcher with the Rockefeller Foundation, had been working on a United States plot to exterminate Puerto Ricans, based on Rhoads' own letter that became public. He ordered an investigation by the Attorney General José Ramón Quiñones, who found no evidence of wrongdoing by Rhoads of the American health project.

Following his service as governor, Beverley continued to live and work in Puerto Rico as the head of a large firm. He practiced law and served on numerous commissions and was active in the US Coast Guard reserve, helping lead efforts to protect Puerto Rican waters during World War II.

Legacy and honors His papers are held by the University of Texas.