Charles Erastus Vawter, Sr., was born in Monroe County, West Virginia, on June 9, 1841 to John H. and Clara Vawter. John H. Vawter was a member or the Virginia legislature for twenty-four years. Charles Vawter's education at Emory and Henry College was interrupted in his junior year, when he joined the Confederate Army, serving in the Stonewall Brigade, in which he became a captain, during the American Civil War. He was captured and became a prisoner of war at Fort Delaware.

After the war, Vawter returned to Emory and Henry, graduating in 1866. Also in that year, he married Virginia Longley, and they had several children, including Charles E. Vawter, Jr., who later taught at Virginia Tech. For twelve years, Vawter, Sr., was professor of mathematics at his alma mater. He served as a member of the Board of Visitors of the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute, and was recognised as an authority on manual training in the south. He died on October 27, 1905.

External sources:

"Charles E. Vawter", Virginia Tech History website, https://history.unirel.vt.edu/administration/vawter_charles_e.html: "From the report of the committee established to consider names of certain buildings on campus, sent to Dr. Walter S. Newman, President, on April 26, 1962."

"Capt Charles Erastus Vawter", Findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15298065/charles-erastus-vawter, accessed June 14, 2023.