Archibald Fowler Bennett (March 17, 1896 – August 28, 1965) was a longtime employee of the Genealogical Society of Utah who was such a figure in the promotion of family history research in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that he became known as "Mr.
In May 1899 his parents accepted a request from Lorenzo Snow to settle in southern Alberta, Canada, and work on the canal which was being built there.
After attending Normal School at Calgary, Alberta, in 1915 and receiving a First-Class Teacher's Certificate, he taught in Neidpath, Marchessault and Barnwell.
Bennett enlisted March 26, 1916, in the 13th Canadian Mounted Rifles after listening to a recruiting speech by Hugh B.
Brigham Young University, which had begun teaching genealogy in 1921, had Bennett instruct starting in 1952, and taught two classes twice a week at BYU for 15 years, while also carrying on his other assignments.
Another enticement was that the Society would permanently hold "security copies" on film of otherwise irreplaceable documents, should anything happen to the original records.
In 1947 he was sent to Europe for four months representing the Genealogical Society in making contacts in England, Wales, the Netherlands, Norway and Italy for permission to microfilm extensive collections of parish registers, probate, census and military records.
In 1948 he went to Europe again to complete microfilming arrangements in these countries and in Germany, Switzerland and France, and he also supervised the copying of the Vaudois Protestant records from Italy.
Bennett died of a heart attack August 28, 1965, at age 69 in American Fork, en route to a Priesthood Genealogical assignment in Provo, and was buried September 1 in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
Bennett wrote genealogy manuals used by the LDS Sunday Schools, Relief Society, and BYU.
He also published journal articles including "The Vaudois of the Alpine Valleys and their Contribution to Utah and Latter-day Saint History" in the Winter 1960 edition of BYU Studies.
An article he wrote on the descendants of Richard Bennett of Virginia was published in the William & Mary Quarterly in 1936.