Charles H. Bartelt, a distinguished member of the legal profession, has earned the respect and trust of both his colleagues and clients. Born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1876, Bartelt immigrated to the United States with his family in 1882. After completing his education, including a law degree from Nebraska State University, he joined the bar in 1899. Settling in Sioux Falls, Bartelt established a successful law practice in partnership with J. E. McMahon. A dedicated Republican, he actively engaged in politics and remained well-informed about public affairs. Bartelt’s accomplishments, combined with his affiliations with fraternal organizations, underscore his prominent standing in the community.
CHARLES H. BARTELT, one of the representative young members of the bar of the state, has so directed his course as to retain the confidence and esteem of his professional confreres and of his clients. Mr. Bartelt is a native of the city of Hamburg, Germany, where he was born on the 1st of June, 1876, but he has passed practically his entire life in the United States, whither his parents emigrated in 1882. His father, Henry Bartelt, followed a seafaring life prior to his emigration to the United States, and here he continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until his retirement from active business. He and his wife now reside in the village of Holstein, Iowa, and are persons of the sterling characteristics which so clearly designate the true German type. The subject of this review received his early educational discipline in the public schools of Cherokee county, Iowa, and Sioux City, Iowa, after which he continued his studies in the high school at Ponca, Nebraska. He later entered the Western Normal College, at Lincoln, that state, where he completed a thorough course and was then matriculated in the Nebraska State University, in the same city, where he was graduated as a member of the class of 1893. He then took up the study of law, under the preceptorship of Hon. Park Davis, of Sioux Falls, prosecuted his technical reading with marked appreciation and scrupulous care, and he was admitted to the bar in 1899. In the month of December, 1896, he came to Sioux Falls, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. On June 1, 1903, the subject formed a partnership with J. E. McMahon and they have already gained a satisfactory share of patronage. In politics, Mr. Bartelt is an uncompromising Republican, taking a deep interest in the issues and questions of the hour and keeping well informed on matters of public policy. Fraternally, he is identified with the Masonic order, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Knights of Pythias.
On the 25th of June, 1901, Mr. Bartelt was united in marriage to Miss Victoria O’Laughlin, a daughter of William O’Laughlin, of Sioux Falls. She being a native of Iowa.
Source: Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota: together with mention of Citizens of South Dakota, [Logansport? IN] : B. F. Bowen, 1904.