It is the plain heritage from slavery. In those days Sam,
with his master's consent, "took up" with Mary. No cere-
mony was necessary, and in the busy life of the great planta-
tions of the Black Belt it was usually dispensed with. If now
the master needed Sam's work in another plantation or in
another part of the same plantation, or if he took a notion to
sell the slave, Sam's married life with Mary was usually
unceremoniously broken, and then it was clearly to the mas-
ter's interest to have both of them take new mates. This
widespread custom of two centuries has not been eradicated
in thirty years. To-day Sam's grandson "takes up" with a
woman without license or ceremony; they live together de-
cently and honestly, and are, to all intents and purposes, man
and wife. Sometimes these unions are never broken until
death; but in too many cases family quarrels, a roving spirit,
a rival suitor, or perhaps more frequently the hopeless battle
to support a family, lead to separation, and a broken house-
hold is the result. The Negro church has done much to stop
this practice, and now most marriage ceremonies are per-
formed by the pastors.
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