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Horatio Spafford
Horatio Gates Spafford
Anna Spafford
Horatio Gates Spafford (October 20, 1828, Troy, New York - October 16, 1888, Jerusalem) was a prominent
American lawyer, best known for penning the Christian hymn It Is Well With My Soul, following a family tragedy in
which four of his daughters died.
On September 5, 1861, in Chicago, he married Anna Larsen, of Stavanger, Norway.
Horatio G. Spafford and his wife, Anna, were pretty well-known in 1860’s Chicago. And this was not just because of
Horatio's legal career and business endeavors. The Spaffords were also prominent supporters and close friends of D.L.
Moody, the famous preacher. In 1870, however, things started to go wrong. The Spaffords' only son was killed by
scarlet fever at the age of four. A year later, it was fire rather than fever that struck.
On October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city. Horatio was a prominent lawyer in Chicago, and
had invested heavily in the city's real estate, and the fire destroyed almost everything he owned.
The wreck of the Ville Du Havre
Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family should take a holiday somewhere in Europe, and chose England
knowing that his friend D. L. Moody would be preaching there in the fall. He was delayed because of business, so he
sent his family ahead: his wife and their four children, daughters eleven year old Anna “Annie”, nine year old Margaret
Lee, five year old Elizabeth “Bessie”, and two year old Tanetta.
On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the steamship Ville du Havre, their ship was struck by an iron
sailing vessel and two hundred and twenty-six people lost their lives, including all four of Spafford's daughters. Anna
Spafford survived the tragedy. Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Spafford beginning "Saved alone."
Spafford then sailed to England, going over the location of his daughters' deaths. According to Bertha Spafford Vester,
a daughter born after the tragedy, Spafford wrote "It Is Well With My Soul" on this journey.
The lyrics of “It Is Well with My Soul”
The original manuscript has only four verses, but Spafford's daughter states how later another verse (the fourth in order
below) was added and the last line of the original was slightly modified. The music, written in 1874 by Philip Bliss, was
named after the ship on which Spafford's daughters died, Ville du Havre.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)
My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pain shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
(Refrain)
And Lord haste the day, when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)
Subsequent tragedy
Following the sinking of the Ville du Havre, Anna gave birth to three more children. On February 11, 1880, their only
son, Horatio Goertner Spafford, died at the age of four years, of pneumonia. Their daughters were Bertha Hedges
Spafford (born March 24, 1878) and Grace Spafford (born January 18, 1881). In August 1881, the Spaffords set out for
Jerusalem as a party of thirteen adults and three children and set up the American Colony. Colony members, later joined
by Swedish Christians, engaged in philanthropic work amongst the people of Jerusalem regardless of their religious
affiliation and without proselytizing motives--thereby gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish, and Christian
communities. During and immediately after World War I, the American Colony played a critical role in supporting
these communities through the great suffering and deprivations of the eastern front by running soup kitchens, hospitals,
orphanages and other charitable ventures.
Spafford died on October 16, 1888, of malaria, and was buried in Mount Zion Cemetery, Jerusalem.
Photographs from the Spafford Family Album. Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta (top row, left to right) drowned
when the Ville du Havre sank.
The Spafford Cottage in North Chicago
Horatio Spafford’s business card.
Currier & Ives drawing of
“The Sinking of the Steamship Ville du Harve”
Anna's Telegram to Horatio
Anna was picked up unconscious by the crew of the Lochearn, which itself was in danger of sinking. Fortunately, the
Trimountain, a cargo sailing vessel, arrived to save the survivors. Nine days after the shipwreck Anna landed in Cardiff,
Wales, and cabled Horatio, "Saved alone. What shall I do . . ."
"It Is Well with My Soul"
After receiving Anna's telegram, Horatio immediately left Chicago to bring his wife home. On the Atlantic crossing, the
captain of his ship called Horatio to his cabin to tell him that they were passing over the spot where his four daughters
had perished. He wrote to Rachel, his wife's half-sister, "On Thursday last we passed over the spot where she went
down, in mid-ocean, the waters three miles deep. But I do not think of our dear ones there. They are safe, folded, the
dear lambs." Horatio wrote this hymn, still sung today, as he passed over their watery grave.
All of the documents and descriptions above were obtained with the gracious help of the Manuscript Division of the Library of
Congress
Philip Paul Bliss
Philip Paul Bliss (9 July 1838 – 29 December 1876) was an American composer, conductor, bass-baritone, writer of
hymns and a Gospel singer. He wrote many well-known hymns, including Almost Persuaded, Hallelujah, What a
Saviour!, Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, Wonderful Words of Life, and the tune for Horatio Spafford's It Is Well with
My Soul.
In 1864 the Blisses moved to Chicago. Bliss was then 26. He became known as a singer and teacher. He wrote a number
of gospel songs. Bliss was paid $100 for a concert tour which lasted only a fortnight. Bliss was amazed that so much
money could be earned so quickly. The following week he was drafted for service in the Union Army. Because the war
was almost over his notice was canceled after a couple of weeks. The unit he served with was the 149th Pennsylvania
Infantry.
Following this Bliss went on another concert tour, but this failed. He was, however, offered a position at Root and Cady
Musical Publishers, at a salary of $150 per month. Bliss worked with this company from 1865 until 1873. He conducted
musical conventions, singing schools and concerts for his employers. He continued to compose hymns, which were
often printed in his employer’s books.
In 1869 Bliss formed an association with Dwight L. Moody. Moody and others urged Bliss to give up his job and
become a missionary singer. In 1874 Bliss decided that he was called to the task of “winning souls”. He then became a
full-time evangelist. Bliss made significant amounts of money from royalties and gave them to charity and to support
his evangelical endeavours.
On 29 December 1876 the Pacific Express train which Bliss and his wife were traveling in approached Ashtabula, Ohio.
While the train was in the process of crossing a trestle bridge, which collapsed, all carriages fell into the ravine below.
Bliss escaped the carriage but the carriages caught fire and Bliss returned to try and extricate his wife. No trace of either
body was discovered. Ninety-two of the 160 passengers are believed to have died in what became known as the
Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster.
The Blisses were survived by their two sons, George and Philip Paul, then aged 4 and 1 respectively.
Found in his trunk, which somehow survived the crash and fire, was a manuscript bearing the lyrics of the only wellknown Bliss gospel song for which he did not write a tune. Soon thereafter set to a tune specially written for it by James
McGranahan, it became one of the first songs recorded by Thomas Alva Edison, that song being I Will Sing of My
Redeemer.
David R. Holsinger
(born December 26, 1945 in Hardin, Missouri) is an American composer and conductor writing primarily for concert
band. Holsinger is a graduate of Hardin-Central High School in Hardin, Missouri, Central Methodist University, the
University of Central Missouri, and the University of Kansas. He is well known across the nation as well as the world
for his differentiating time signatures throughout his pieces.
In 1999, following 15 years of service as music minister, worship leader, and composer in residence to Shady Grove
Church in Grand Prairie, Texas, he joined the School of Music faculty at Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee, as
Conductor of the Lee University Wind Ensemble. He currently serves as the conductor of the Lee University Wind
Ensemble at Lee University, Cleveland, Tennessee.
ON A HYMNSONG OF PHILIP BLISS (1989) is Holsinger's translated American hymn “It is Well with my Soul”. It is
his largest selling work and has been used in several televised memorial performances in recent years, including
commemorative services for the Challenger astronauts, Ronald Reagan, and the fallen heroes of the American armed
forces. This piece was written to honor Rev. Steve Edel, the retiring principal of Shady Grove Christian Academy, and
was presented to him as a gift by the academy's concert band.