In the seventeenth century, October 20, 1828, to be exact, a child named Horatio Gates Spafford was born in North Troy, New York.
Spafford was a lawyer in Chicago, Illinois. It was in the 1870’s that Spafford had established a most successful legal practice. Spafford invested heavily in real estate.
The Spafford home was a host to the meetings of abolution and temperance societies. They did much to further these causes.
But by 1871, the Great Chicago Fire had taken place and had wiped out all of his earnings. Before this disaster had taken place, Spafford had lost his son, Horatio, Jr. who died of scarlet fever. It was at this point that Spafford took stock of his life and decided to no longer live for the things he had been living for, but decided that he wanted to get to know Jesus. So upon this decision, he decided he could facilitate getting to know Jesus better by moving to Jerusalem. He moved his whole family there.
Due to the fact that the deal fell through on the sale of his property, he put his wife (Anna) and his four daughters (Maggie, Tanetta, Annie and Bessie) on a luxury steamer named the Ville du Havre. While in the middle of the Atlantic, the ship was rammed by a British iron sailing ship, the Lockhearn. In just 12 minutes the steamer sank; 226 people lost their lives.
Being kept afloat by a piece of debris, an unconcious Anna was one of the passengers that were rescued. Spafford lost his four daughters. Meanwhile, Horatio was planning to join his family in Europe where he would join Dwight Lyman Moody and Ira Sankey on one of their evangelistic crusades. While wrapping up his affairs, Spafford received a horrible telegram from his wife stating: "Saved alone."
Crossing the Atlantic Ocean to be with his wife, he penned the words to the beloved hymn "It Is Well With My Soul" giving an expression of his faith in Christ. An acquaintance of Dwight L. Moody, Spafford told him, "The will of God be done."
Later a center for homeless children was established and is known as the Spafford Children’s Center. Horatio Spafford died on October 16th of the year 1888, in Jerusalem of Malaria while starting an American Colony there.
His hymns include:
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Sources:
http://students.etsu.edu/zamt15/spafordbio.htm
http://www.geocities.com/cott1388/spaford.html
http://www.backtothebible.org/gateway/today/17467
Pictures: http://www.gracelivingstonhill.com/spafford.htm
http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/glimpses/glms064.shtml
http://www.aquarelles.com/spafford/
K.W. Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel Publications, 1982
K.W. Osbeck, Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Kregel Publications, 1990
http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/horation.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ms/spiritual/page16.html
