Born in Hale Center, Texas, Mathes received a B.B.A.
[1] On September 24, 1945, Mathes was nominated by President Harry S. Truman to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of California vacated by Judge Ralph E. Jenney.
He was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1958 to 1960.
He served as Chief Judge from 1964 to 1965, assuming senior status on June 9, 1965.
[1] Mathes was the trial judge in the case of Kawakita v. United States, which eventually went before the Supreme Court of the United States.