Elijah A. Northcutt was born around 1836 in Campbell County, Georgia, to John R. Northcutt. His father was a farmer who owned $3,500 of real estate and $1,250 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in Marietta, Georgia, and the family moved to Calhoun County, Alabama, in the 1850s. He married Beady A. Baker on December 22, 1859. Northcutt worked as a farmer in Calhoun County, and by 1860, he owned $1,310 of personal property.
He enlisted in the Confederate army on August 13, 1862, and he mustered in as a private in Company E of the 22nd Alabama Infantry. According to his service records, he was 6 feet tall, with dark hair and dark eyes. The regiment took part in the Battle of Perryville, the Battle of Murfreesboro, and the Battle of Chickamauga. He died at Chickamauga on September 20, 1863.