Career
Born in Nendingen, Württemberg, Germany, he emigrated with his family from Burlington (1864) and Brookfield (1866) to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1876. He fought strictly against female suffrage. Under President Cleveland, he was an agent of the Department of Agriculture.
In 1906, he renamed the brewery "Otoe Brewing Company" With Nebraska State prohibition, the brewery was closed in 1917.
From 1917 to 1918, he was President pro tem of the senate. Paul Mattes had seven children: Frank P., Mary, Pauline, Rosa, Hoyt, Francis and Lotte.
Frank was general agent of the Moerlein Brewery, Cincinnati, Ohio. John Mattes married Katie Schaefer in Des Moines.
They had a daughter, Nora Angeline (1883).
