Matthew Berry (also known as Matthew or John Gardner after the war) was born on July 25, 1847, in Albemarle County, Virginia. He was born John Gardner (named after his father), but he later changed his name to Matthew Berry. He spent the first twelve years of his life in Charlottesville, enslaved by the family of Hudson Fretwell. In 1859, they sold him to Dr. John Berry in Noble Lake, Arkansas, where he worked as a farmer and laborer.

Berry enlisted in the Union army on November 19, 1864, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and mustered in on the same day. His service record describes him as 5 feet, 4 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes, and black complexion. He served in Company B of the 64th USCT Infantry Regiment until September 27, 1865, when he was transferred to Company E of the 69th USCT Infantry Regiment. He spent his service time stationed in Mississippi and Arkansas before mustering out on March 13, 1866, in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Following the war, Berry returned to Noble Lake and worked as a farmer and laborer. He married Margarette Gardner on April 29, 1869, in Jefferson County, Arkansas. Together, they had eleven children: Sarah, born May 12, 1867; Mary Jane, born December 22, 1869; Ned, born October 22, 1871; Randal, born October 22, 1871; Horace, born July 20, 1873; Haridenia, born March 28, 1875; Armstead, born July 17, 1877; Richard, born April 8, 1879; Emmett, born November 15, 1882; Phillip, born March 11, 1884; and Ritta, born November 29, 1890. Berry later claimed he was struck by lightning in 1883, and one fellow veteran reported that he was "totally unable to earn a living by manual labor" by 1890. Berry began receiving $6 a month in 1897 for "disease of the heart." By July 25, 1913, he was receiving $16 a month for rheumatism and piles. He died on December 30, 1915, in Noble Lake, Arkansas, of unknown causes. His wife Margaret began receiving a pension on January 7, 1916, which eventually amounted to $24 a month.