SMARC: Break and Salt Lists

During the Civil War, local county governments would allocate bread and salt to its indigent families. They would list the heads of households, the number of children and how much was given to each. Women were also noted as widows which may help in learning when their soldier husband's died. These lists compared with military records are a valuable resource in determining children's parentage and identifying the correct soldier/husband.

Dec 1862 Salt List - Pickens GA - by Linda Woodward Geiger

Jul 1863 Salt List - Pickens GA - by Linda Woodward Geiger

Rabun GA: by Dawn Watson

Salt Lists: January 23, 1863
Salt Lists: August 14, 1863

The Georgia Commissary General's Record of Families Supplied with Salt 1862-1864
CD-ROM only. Contains 106,166 records- names of Georgia widows, mothers, and wives, and dependents given or sold salt supplies as a relief effort during the Civil War. Order from GA Gen. Soc.

none found on-line

There are many bread & salt lists as well as court records that have yet to be transcribed. If you are interested in seeing more of this type of records on this web site, please contact us. We will help you locate the records for transcription. Thank you.

Sometimes bread and salt lists are located within county court records, so be sure to look there also.