DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Somewhere in Hays County, there's a marker bearing the name Ulysses Cephas — and friend, that name carries some weight worth knowing about. Born in 1884 in San Marcos, Ulysses was the son of Joe and Elizabeth Cephas, former slaves who built a life and a trade in that Texas town.
Joe was a blacksmith, and from an early age, young Ulysses was being shaped right alongside the iron — trained up in his father's craft before most boys his age had figured out what they wanted to be. Now, his family and friends knew him as Boots. Just Boots.
And there's something about a man who earns a nickname like that — it tells you he was the kind of person people felt comfortable around, somebody who belonged. Boots Cephas didn't just learn the trade — he mastered it. He eventually owned his own blacksmith shop, and word of his work spread all through Hays County.
Shoeing horses, building wagons, crafting farming implements — not just serviceable work, mind you, but superior work. That word's right there on the marker. Superior.
When a man's reputation for quality travels county-wide in an era when news traveled slow, that means something. But Boots wasn't only known by the ring of his hammer. He was a respected community leader.
An active member of the First Missionary Baptist Church. And he organized the San Marcos Independent Band — bringing people together through music as surely as he brought iron together through fire. Ulysses Cephas, born to the children of bondage, passed in 1952, leaving behind a county that knew his name, a church that valued his presence, and a band that carried his organizing spirit.
The son of former slaves — and a man who built something lasting out of every material he touched.
What the marker says
(1884-1952) The son of former slaves Joe and Elizabeth Cephas, Ulysses Cephas was born in San Marcos. He was trained at an early age to carry on the blacksmithing trade of his father. Known as "Boots" to his friends and family, Cephas eventually owned his own blacksmith shop and was known throughout the county for his skills in shoeing horses and creating superior wagons and farming implements. a respected community leader, he was an active member of the First Missionary Baptist Church and organizer of the San Marcos Independent Band.