Johann Gottlieb Ernst Bartels, known as John or JE, was born 19 Dec 1893 in Daykin, Nebraska, the fourth child and fourth son of Henry and Maria nee Haake Bartels. He was baptized 7 Jan 1894 at Zion Lutheran Church south of Tobias, Nebraska, and later confirmed there as well. He attended the church's parochial elementary school through the 8th grade, and then went to Seward, Nebraska to attend high school and Concordia Teachers College. Following graduation in 1914, he taught school at the Lutheran school of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tilsit, Missouri.

On 2 Aug 1917 he married Emma Marie Schafer at the same church where he had grown up, and they started their married life in Jackson, Missouri. It was there that their first child, Esther Marie Emma, was born on 25 Jul 1918; sadly, she died the following day and is buried there.

In 1919 John answered a call to serve as teacher at Altamont, Illinois. There, three children were born: Raymond, Walter, and Isabel. His next call was to become the principal of the St. John Lutheran school in rural Lincoln county, Kansas. There, the rest of the children were born: John, Hubert, Enola, Arlon, Irma, Lester, and Wendell. Hubert passed away in 1997 and Raymond in 2010.

After leaving Lincoln, John left with all his children except Raymond, who had married and settled in Lincoln county to become a farmer; his next call came from the congregation in Block, Kansas, near Paola. His final job was at Canton, Kansas in 1950. After three years, he retired and he and Emma moved to Topeka, Kansas, where they spent the rest of their earthly days. His obituary states that at the time of his death he had 29 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.