| Horatio Spafford |
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| spafford, horatio | |
| 1828 births | |
| 1888 deaths | |
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Horatio Gates Spafford ( 1828 - 1888 ) was the author of the hymn " It Is Well With My Soul ". There are many authors of many hymns, but it is perhaps the story surrounding Horatio Spafford's life when he wrote the hymn which makes the author's story so exceptional and enduring, and the words of his hymn so forceful. Spafford was born on October 20, 1828, North Troy, New York. EARLY LIFE First Tragedy: His loss of property in The Great Chicago Fire In , and friend of the famous preacher D. L. Moody . He had invested heavily in real estate. So when the Great Chicago Fire happened, it meant that he lost almost everything he owned. Second Tragedy: The four daughters died Two years later, in 1873 , Spafford decided his family should take a holiday in Europe, and knowing that Moody would preach in England in the fall, he decided to take his family there. However, he was delayed because of business, so he sent his family on ahead of him: his wife Anna, and his four daughters Tanetta, Maggie, Annie and Bessie. On November 21, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic on the ''S.S. Ville Du Havre'', the 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. Somehow his wife, Anna, survived. On arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Horatio with the words "Saved alone" [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/images/ac0006s.jpg . Spafford then himself took a ship to England, going past the place where his daughters had died. According to his daughter, Bertha Spafford, the hymn was written in 1873 in mid-Atlantic {Link without Title} . HIS LIFE WORK AND DEATH (LIFE GOES ON) Below are the lyrics of the hymn It Is Well With My Soul done by Spafford. The original manuscript has the four verses below, but Spafford's daughter states how later another verse was added and one of the lines of the original was slightly modified [http://aquarelles.com/spafford/html/history.html .
The music, by Philip Bliss , was named after the ship on which his daughters had all died, ''Ville Du Havre''. In 1878, a daughter was born, Bertha, and in 1880 they had a son whom they named Horatio. Sadly, he died in at aged 4 years from scarlet fever. He died on October 16, 1888, Jerusalem, Israel, of malaria, and is now buried there in Jerusalem. EXTERNAL LINKS Horatio Spafford
Philip Bliss |
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