Locke was born to John Locke (1700, England –c.1744, Lancaster, Pennsylvania) and his wife Elizabeth (c.1705, England –1760, Rowan County, North Carolina) in the northern part of the Kingdom of Ireland, from where his family migrated to Pennsylvania, where his father died.
Matthew Locke was a Colonel in the Rowan County Regiment of militia from 1775 to 1783 during the American War of Independence.
He was also a Brigadier General (Pro Tempore) over the Salisbury District Brigade of militia in 1779, as well as the paymaster of troops.
[2][1] Locke was a delegate to the North Carolina Provincial Congress at Hillsborough in 1775 and at Halifax in 1776 when the State Constitution was approved.
After retiring from Congress, Locke was engaged as a planter and was an extensive landowner; he died in Salisbury, North Carolina on September 7, 1801, aged 71 years.