Newton Carl Elder was born on 21 November 1898, at Darlington, Pennsylvania. He studied at Geneva College (1918-1919), Cedarville College (1919-1922), and College of Wooster (1923). In 1926, Elder graduated from Western Theological Seminary and was ordained on 12 April 1926. He married Josephine Bertha Fernyak (b. 24 January 1904) in June 1926, and two months later, they sailed to Thailand to serve as missionaries with the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions.

After a year of language study, the Elders served at Pitsanuloke (1927-1930). They then went to the US for a furlough and returned to serve at Pitsanuloke (1932-1933). During this period, N. Carl Elder received some critiques from a more senior evangelistic missionary, pointing to his lack of supervision in the French Laos field for mission work supposedly in his charge, which he never visited.

In 1933, the Elder family was assigned to Chiang Mai to assist with the McGilvary Theological Seminary. N. Carl Elder’s term at the seminary was tumultuous as John Sung’s evangelism crusades brought new ideas within the Thailand church on Bible study and education, resulting in a halt for training at the seminary. In 1941, the Elders moved to serve at the Bangkok Christian College. When World War II started, the Elder family was interned by the Thai government (at the Japanese request) with other missionaries. They were later repatriated and arrived back in the USA on the M.S. Gripsholm on 25 August 1942.

During World War II, N. Carl Elder served as an Army Chaplain, and then after the war, he became a pastor and chaplain at a Leper Home in Carville, Louisianna. On 13 February 1988, N. Carl Elder passed away. He is buried in Mansfield, Ohio, alongside his wife (d. 24 January 1998).