Born on November 8, 1897, in Baltimore, Maryland, Bartels received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1920 from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Laws in 1923 from Harvard Law School.

He was a member of the New York State Law Review Commission from 1945 to 1950 and again from 1952 to 1957.

He was a Justice of the New York Supreme Court for Kings County from 1950 to 1951.

[2] Bartels was nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on April 20, 1959, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York vacated by Judge Robert Alexander Inch.

His service terminated on February 13, 1997, due to his death in Brooklyn, New York.