Category 1 and 2 hurricanes are shown with green bars, Category 3 and stronger with orange bars and the storm's name. For the last part of the 19th century a good source is the Monthly Weather Review , a journal that carried detailed reports of ordinary weather and of big storms. Old issues are found in major research libraries, especially at universities with meteorology programs. Other libraries should be able to obtain copies via interlibrary loan. Newspapers from the times and places of major weather events can be good sources.
Most large libraries have copies, usually on microfilm, of newspapers from their regions.
Books about local history can sometimes supply useful information. No real weather data was kept in the 18th century except for a few observations by people such as Thomas Jefferson. For that period, you'd have to relay on various kinds of accounts, such as journals, to see what people were saying about the weather. By the late 1800s more regular observations were being made, especially by Army posts in the West. These records are at the NCDC, but you'd have to check with the Center about access to them.