Elbert McPhaul was born on October 29, 1895, in Red Springs, North Carolina. At the outbreak of World War I, McPhaul was working for the Department of Agriculture in Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite his request for an exemption, McPhaul was inducted into the service in June 1918 and served with the Medical Department until March 1919. He died in Fayetteville (Cumberland County) on September 12, 1970.