His parents, James Elder and Ann Richards, natives of Maryland, moved shortly after their marriage to Hardin's Creek, in the present Marion County, Kentucky, where George, the second of their seven children was born.
[1] George Elder in his sixteenth year entered Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland, to pursue classical studies.
In addition to the duties of an assistant at the cathedral there, Elder was entrusted by Benedict Joseph Flaget, David's successor, with the founding of a high-grade school or college for lay students.
In 1827, Ignatius A. Reynolds (later Bishop of Charleston) was appointed president and Elder was given charge of the congregation of St. Pius, in Scott County, Kentucky.
He frequently did duty in the cathedral and was one of the editors of the Louisville Catholic Advocate newspaper (founded 1836), to which he contributed articles on the education of children.