Who was Horatio Spafford anyway?

For a moment let's consider the life of a Chicago attorney in the late 19th Century.  This is taken from Wikipedia, the on line free encyclopedia with submissions from people at large.

Mr. Spafford lost a son at age 4 to scarlet fever.  He lost four daughters at sea when his wife made it to England alone.  From another daughter born after the loss of the four, she relates how he wrote the now famous hymn "It is well with my soul" as he crossed the Atlantic near the point where the daughters where lost.

What is significant to me is Mr. Spafford's faith amidst the trials and the losses he experienced in his life.  The last word of each stanza is "soul."  We Americans seem to forget we have an eternal soul.  We live in the present thinking this life will never end.  We seek instant gratification and satisfaction with "things" when only God can give us this peace that Mr. Spafford had.

On October 8, 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city, Horatio Spafford 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. Delayed because of business, he sent ahead of him his family: his wife, Anna, and four children, daughters Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta Anna Spafford.

On November 21, 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.

After the fire and the tragedy, Horatio's only son, also named Horatio died in 1880 at the age of four years, of scarlet fever.

According to Bertha Spafford, a daughter born after the tragedy, "It Is Well With My Soul" was written on this journey.

[Taken from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Spafford]

See also:  http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/amcolony-family.html for photos and additional info.

Lyrics:


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)