Rainbow Mountain

Rainbow Mountain. Madison County. , Born in North Carolina in 1774. Elisha Rainbolt moved with his wife and children in 1807 to the area now called Rainbow Mountain a phonetic distortion of the Rainbolt name. The following year, in 1808, Madison County was organized. Rainbolt was one of 450 inhabitants of the Sims Settlement on Chickasaw land. During the War of 18 12, Rainbolt served in Lt. Col. Perkins' 7th Battalion of Capt. James Burleson's Company of Mounted Infantry, Madison County, Mississippi Territory Militia. The western border of Madison County was defined by an 1805 treaty as the Old Indian Treaty Boundary line. The Chickasaw claimed the land west of the line to the Elk River until they were forced to sign a treaty with Major General Andrew Jackson in 1816. Even then, the land in western Madison County could not be legally settled until after systematic government surveys were completed. (Continued on other side), (Continued from other side) Beginning February 3, 1818, the Sims Settlement inhabitants could legally purchase land in the area. On that day, Rainbolt purchased approximately 103 acres situated from the north face of Rainbow Mountain extending across what is now Highway 72 to the east side of Nance Road. The following year, in 1819, the Alabama Territory was granted statehood. As one of the early White settlers in Madison County on land now known as Rainbow Mountain, Elisha Rainbolt is considered the "father” of Rainbow Mountain. Rainbolt died in late 1821 or early 1822, He was buried south of Highway 72 and west of Rainbow Drive on the northeast face of the mountain, where a tall obelisk marked his grave. All traces of his grave were lost to modern residential development.