Samuel G. Bartel
Biographical Note
Samuel G. Bartel, a native of Indiana, was born in May 1856. Nothing is known at present of his early life. Evidently he moved east for a few years; his wife, Eliza, was born in New York state and their son, George S., was born in Ohio in 1883.
By 1889 Bartel was a carpenter by trade, living in Haughville, which at the time was an incorporated town just northwest of Indianapolis. In 1893 he described himself as a contractor, and then a year later as a “practical architect.” He placed advertisements in Indianapolis directories for 1894 and 1895 reading: Samuel G. Bartel practical Architect and Superintendent, Plans and Specifications Prepared at a reasonable per cent. No. 88 Germania Avenue, . . . . . HAUGHVILLE.
About the same time, he drew up some promotional material declaring a specialization in “School House Architecture.” His career evidently went in a different direction, however, focusing more on modest homes and small commercial buildings. He continued his small architectural practice from his residence in Haughville until 1912. For two years during that period, 1902 and 1903, he served also as “city building inspector,” presumably for the city of Indianapolis (Haughville was annexed by Indianapolis in 1897). From ca. 1899 to 1909 his address is given as 730 N. Germania Avenue, then, from 1910 to 1912, as 746 N. Germania.
About 1913, Bartel moved to East Central Indiana, opening an architecture office at 1101 S. Walnut Street, Muncie. All subsequent records, from 1914 on, place his home in Farmland, Indiana, though in 1914 he also maintained a “soliciting office” in Muncie (in the Johnson Building). He continued his membership in Indianapolis Lodge No. 17 of the Loyal Order of Moose at least to March 1915. The latest dated item in the collection is a letter sent to Bartel at the end of 1920. Bartel is listed in the “roster of architects in Indiana” published by the Indiana Society of Architects through 1925 but his name does not appear in the 1926 roster.
