John was the 8th of 11 children born to Fred and Sophie Bartels, and the first to be born on American soil, at Beecher, Illinois. When he was about 8, the family moved to Saline County, Nebraska. John grew up there, and stayed on his father's farm, and his son Donald after him.

He was confirmed in the Zion Lutheran church in the sixth confirmation class, 1884. On August 17, 1880 he married Mollie Endorf, who had also been brought up in the area. They had six children: Helen, who married Otto John Nolte; Walter, who married Mary Genevieve Markey; Erna, who married Dr. Henry Schoenbeck; Lucile, who married Walter Nun; Bernard, who married Viola Bender; and Donald, who married (and divorced) Marlene Hamouz. His children brought him a total of 21 grandchildren.
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Mary Jensen Seggerman provided the following obituary, published August 18, 1966 in "The Nebraska Signal" in Geneva, Nebraska:



John Bartels of Tobias, Neb., oldest member of Zion Lutheran Church, was laid to rest Thursday, August 4, 1966, in Zion Cemetery following services at the church.  The end of this month he would have been 96 years old.  He was the last of his generation.  He died in the Fillmore County Hospital in Geneva, Neb., August 1, 1966.
 
John Bartels was born August 25, 1870, near Beecher, Ill., the son of Fred G. and Sophia Bartels. His parents and five brothers came to the United States in 1869.  John and two sisters were born in the United States.  At the age of eight in 1878, his parents and family came to Friend by train and they settled on a farm north of the present town of Daykin for two years. The family then moved to the farm south of Tobias, where Mr. Bartels spent the rest of his life.
 
Brothers were Fred, the oldest born in 1855; Henry, Gottleib, Ernest and William; and two sisters, Sophia Heidemann and Anna Schweer.  Members of this family are now scattered throughout the United States.
 
Nearly everyone in Zion Church, with very few exceptions could call him "Uncle John." It is interesting to note the Mr. Bartels was the youngest son of his generation, although he had two younger sisters, and John's son, Donald is the youngest of his generation, and Donald's son, Daniel is the youngest of his generation.
 
As a young lad, Mr. Bartels herded cattle for many people on the open prairies of that time before the town of Tobias was platted or the railroad built.  He would herd a hundred cattle and put them in a corral near his home every evening.  In the blizzard of 1888, he was going to school at Tobias.  This was after he had finished parochial school and was confirmed. He was nearly lost in the storm, but found his way home by following a long row of cottonwood trees.
 
In 1899 he was married to Amelia Endorf.  To them were born four sons and three daughters.  His family consisted of Helen, Mrs. Otto Nolte and Walter of Tobias; Erna, Mrs. Henry Schoenbeck of Montclair, N. J., Lucille, Mrs. Walter Nun of Ute, Ia.; Bernard J. and Donald of Tobias. Mr. and Mrs. Bartels had 59 years of wedded life together before Mrs. Bartels died in 1958.
 
In the fall of 1939 Miss Amanda Brunkow came to live with the family and took care of Mr. Bartels until two weeks before his death.
 
Mr. Bartels, during his lifetime was an elder and trustee of his church, where he was a faithful and devoted member for nearly 88 years.  Only his increasing weakness and illness kept him from attending church regularly the past two years.  He had a very keen mind and could relate very interesting stories and incidents of happenings and of the early history of Tobias.  He was delighted to have his 21 grandchildren visit him.  He also had four great-grandchildren.