When Lewis Davis Van Matre was born on 20 September 1807, in Clinton, Ohio, United States, his father, Morgan Camp van Meter, was 41 and his mother, Mary Pearce, was 37. He married Nancy Alexander Donaldson on 13 January 1831, in Highland, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 7 sons and 4 daughters. He lived in Monroe, Green, Wisconsin, United States in 1880. He died on 15 April 1886, in Monroe, Wisconsin, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Oneco Township, Stephenson, Illinois, United States.