John was born in rural Jefferson County, Indiana, near the Town of Caanan, on August 5th, 1867. He was the son of Thomas M. Mathews and Sarah Earhart, who were married in Jefferson County on August 28th, 1859. Thomas died before 1870, and Sarah remarried about 1880, to David H. Wilson. There was apparently friction between John and his step-father, because John left home when he was in his teens. From the early 1880's to 1900, John traveled and worked through the United States. He learned the barbering trade, and according to his retirement article in the Northern States Power in-house magazine, he "practiced the tonsorial art in all forty-eight states, Mexico, and part of Canada."

John first appears in the records of Minneapolis in 1901, as a barber, working in a shop at 124 Hennepin Avenue. His residence was a boarding house at 622 Hennepin. The 1903 city directory also has a listing for a young lady living at the same address, named Louise Newman, a cashier. Louise didn't take long to tame the "traveling man" in John, because they were married on June 17th, 1903 in Minneapolis.

Soon John and Louise were living on Nicollet Island and raising a family. John Jr., Donald and Violet were born on Nicollet Island. In 1909, John began working for Northern States Power, which was then known as Minneapolis Mill Company, as a watchman. The family moved to a home on NE. Washington Street and kept growing. Evelyn, Lloyd, Albert & Muriel were born between 1910 and 1916. Around 1918, John and Louise moved to the near south side of Minneapolis and bought a home at 2213-16th Avenue South. Louis, Douglas & Robert were born between 1918 and 1925, completing the Mathews family at ten children.

John retired from NSP in December, 1948. John and Louise celebrated their 50th anniversary in 1953. John was 86 at the time. On September 12, 1954, at the age of 87, John suffered a heart attack at his home and died. He is buried at Sunset Memorial Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.