Mattison V. Riddle was born on September 12, 1853, in South Carolina to Silas and Nancy Riddle. His father was a farmer who owned $275 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Laurens District, South Carolina. He married Mary Jane Hester around 1878, and they had at least nine children: Hattie, born around 1879; Cynthia, born around 1883; John, born around 1885; James, born around 1887; Nora, born around 1889; Charles, born around 1891; Herman, born around 1894; Margaret, born around 1898; and Thaddeus, born around 1902.
They lived in Bates, South Carolina, and Riddle worked as a farmer. They moved to Williamston, South Carolina, in the late 1800s, and by 1910, they were living in Greenville, South Carolina. He died there on October 20, 1922.