June 17, 1883 Sunday Owing to the excessive rainfall, the streams were out of their banks and flowing over the adjoining bottoms. Minnie and the children were over at Stanberry and I went over to see the flood. The whole bottom as far as the railroad track was covered with water. Those living in houses on the bottom were compelled to leave them as the water in some cases reached the windows. No lives were lost however. July 13, 1883 Friday Shortly after dinner time a heavy cloud appeared in the northwest and soon the wind began to blow very hard. I had started to town but stopped at Willie Stockton's until the storm was over. He was living at the time on the old Stockton farm. Four of us went to the cave for safety. For an hour the wind went by at a rate never known to any of us before. Minnie and the children were at home in the house, as it was not safe to go out to the cave. The storm was a straight blower and was the heaviest ever known in this vicinity. It commenced in the northwest part of the state and took a southeasterly course, having a track about 25 miles wide and 150 miles long. We were on the south edge of its path. Hundreds of houses were either moved from their foundations or blown to pieces. But one life was known to have been lost. Four of the churches in Stanberry were moved from their foundations. Burlington Junction and Maryville suffered severely. The courthouse in Albany was destroyed. The effects of the storm in the timbered country north of Albany will be seen for many years. Standing crops were leveled to the ground and many farmers had all their buildings, fences and crops ruined. We suffered no loss. Aug 25, 1883 Saturday My brother-in-law, E. F. Lilly, and I took a trip in a spring wagon to Denver, Worth Co. We were prospecting with a view of looking up a location suitable for the hardware business. We spent the night with my old friends, Marion and Nall Brown, and returned the next day. Sept. 10 1883 Monday Commenced my sixteenth term of school, being my fifth term in the Stockton district. During the month previous, the house had been removed from the old site near my house to the southwest corner of Section 1. Oct 20, 1883 Saturday My brother Edward and I took a trip to Denver for the same purpose that E. F. Lilly and I had gone. We staid at Brown's and left for home the next day by way of Albany. Before I had gone by way of Hugginsville. Nov 9, 1883 Friday Edward came up again with a view of buying out a hardware firm in Stanberry but concluded to wait until spring before making a venture in that direction. The La Crosse railroad was to be located in the spring through or near Stanberry, which would _________(?) or miss(?) the town. +++++++++++++