Born 1830, Skaanevik, Norway, to Sjur Larson and Guru Tungesvik Mathre. The family, with seven children, immigrated to Kendall Co., Ill.  Married Martha Olson Tegland, 1851 (who immigrated in 1849).
Farmed in Kendall Co., Ill. Took a trip back to Norway in 1892, and then settled in Story City, Ia.
Died in 1894, Guru died in 1917. 

One grandson, Lawrence Alfred Mathre, and two great grandsons, Lawrence Jerome Mathre and Henry Jerome Mathre are pastors of the American Lutheran Church. A great grandson, Sewell J. Mathre, was one of the architects for the American Lutheran Church, Oslo, Norway.