In the early hours of 22 November 1873, passenger ship Ville du Havre collided with the British iron clipper, Loch Earn and sank in 12 minutes with the loss of 226 lives.
Among those on board were Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta Spafford, and their mother Anna. In the chaos of the collision, all passengers were thrown into the icy waters, and the four girls drowned. Their mother somehow clinged to driftwood and was rescued.
Upon hearing news of the tragedy their father, Horatio Spafford, rushed from his home in Chicago to be reunited with his wife Anna, who had been evacuated to England.
As the ship Horatio was on passed over the site where is daughter’s drowned, the captain ordered the engines cut, and he let Horatio stay for a while to take in the tragedy. Once the ship resumed, Horatio returned to his cabin and wrote the song below, It Is Well with My Soul.
ItIsWellwithMySoul.com has been set up to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the song and tragic story behind it, with commemorative services planned later in the year on the actual day of the tragedy, Wednesday November 22, 2023.
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 the 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)
