After establishing their claim, Bartholomew quickly became involved in the work of building a new community. He helped construct the first school and church in 1854. He became a justice of the peace for Hennepin County, a position he held from 1854 to 1863. His neighbors chose him as a territorial delegate to the state's 1857 constitutional convention, and Bartholomew later became a District Four representative in the state senate from 1859 to 1860. During the Dakota War of 1862 Bartholomew joined a volunteer company that came to the relief of soldiers at Fort Ridgely.