Philadelphia merchant, brewer, and civic leader.

Clerk to Charles Thomson (1775). Colonel of Philadelphia Associators (1775). Delegate to the state constitutional convention (1776). Secretary of the Pennsylvania Assembly (1776). Secretary of the Supreme Executive Council (1777-83). Trustee of the College of Philadelphia (1779). Delegate to the Continental Congress (1780). Member of the American Philosophical Society (1780). Director of the Bank of North America (1781-82).

Charged with mismanagement of public funds (1783); the charges were dropped, but he never again held high public office. Clerk of the Pennsylvania Senate (1790-1800).

Son of Timothy and Martha (Burr) (Haines) Matlack of Haddonfield, New Jersey. Married Ellen Yarnall in 1758; five children. Married Elizabeth (Claypoole) Cooper in 1797. Quaker; disowned (1765).