Many folks have heard and sung the classic hymn by Horatio Spafford, It Is Well With My Soul. But I would imagine few people know the tragic yet heartwarming story that inspired Spafford to write it.
Spafford was a successful Chicago attorney with profitable investments in Chicago real estate. On October 8, 1871 the Chicago fire ripped through the city and destroyed nearly all Spafford’s real estate investments.
Two years later Spafford decided he and his family deserved a family vacation. They chose London as their destination. Spafford’s good friend Dwight L. Moody was scheduled to preach there that fall, so the trip would be a special one for Spafford and his family.
Business delayed his departure, but he sent his wife and their four daughters, 11, nine, five and two ahead on the steamship, the Villa Du Havre. On November 22, 1873 an iron sailing vessel crashed into the steamship. In the mishap 226 people lost their lives.
When his wife, Anna, reached the European shore she sent a telegram to Spafford with only two words: Saved Alone.
Spafford sailed to Europe to be with his wife. He took the same route across the sea as the Villa Du Havre. Spafford asked the ship’s captain to tell him when they crossed the spot at sea where his four daughters perished. Spafford waited by the railing. When the captain informed Spafford they were crossing his daughters’ watery graves, Spafford penned the words to his beloved hymn, It Is Well With My Soul.
