Matthew Birchard was born in Becket, Massachusetts, and came to Trumbull County, Ohio, near Warren at age eight.

[1] He was admitted to the bar in 1828, and formed a partnership with future governor David Tod,[1] and six years later was elected Common Pleas Judge.

[2] Birchard accepted an appointment with the Federal Government for a time from his friend Andrew Jackson, first as Solicitor for the United States General Land Office, and then to succeed Henry D. Gilpin as Solicitor of the United States Treasury.

[7] One author appraised Birchard thus: "His written opinions are characterized by felicity of expression and perspicuity of thought.

He was known as a man of strong convictions, great will of power, and possessed pertinacity of the sort that causes one juror out of twelve to dissent from the opinion of colleagues.