Horatio Spafford

We were richly blessed by Richard and Mary’s grandchildren, Joshua and Alexa, yesterday doing a dual presentation of Horatio Spafford’s story of the ship crash that took the lives of his four girls.  He later wrote the words to the song, “It Is Well With My Soul.”  When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea-billows roll… it is well with my soul!

Horatio and wife, Anna, lived in Chicago where he practiced law and owned much property.  They were big supporters of the ministry of D. L. Moody and very active in their Presbyterian Church.  They were well to do until the great fire of 1871 swept across Chicago and a number of their properties were destroyed.  In 1873, they decided to travel to Europe for a vacation but also to take in a Moody evangelistic campaign he was holding in Europe.

They arrived at the ship only for Horatio to be summoned back to Chicago to finalize a business matter that needed attention before they were to return.  Anna and the girls – Annie 11, Maggie 9, Bessie 7 and Tanette 3, boarded the Ville du Havre with four pastor friends traveling along who said that they would care for the girls while separated from Horatio.

They left port on November 15 traveling in first class for $125 per person and making 12 knots.  Tanetta was often heard singing, “In the Sweet By-and-By”.  For six days they were buffeted by strong winds, rough seas and dense fog.  At night Anna would walk the deck with Pastor Weiss and one comment she made was it seemed to her “almost impossible that a ship can cross this immense ocean without danger.”  (One of the pastors who traveled with Anna later wrote a book of the experience.)

Early November 22, the Ville du Havre was rammed by the Scottish cargo vessel, Loch Earn.  Most of the lifeboats were painted tight to the ship and were unavailable.  Within 12 minute,s the Ville du Havre broke in two sending 226 to their death – 28 survived.  Anna was clinging to Tanetta but heavy debris hit her and jarred Tanetta from her grasp.  Anna was soon rescued by a lifeboat, but the girls were gone.

In Cardiff, South Wales, Anna telegraphed Horatio a 29-word message that began with “Saved, Alone.”

Horatio traveled to Anna and was told by the ship’s captain when they crossed over the place where his girls perished.  Ira D. Sankey, a team member with D.L.Moody who was often at the Spafford home after the tragedy, reported that Horatio wrote the words to the song when back in Chicago.

Following the tragedy, the Spaffords suffered financial set-backs and the death of a two-year-old son born in 1876.  In 1881, the Spaffords moved to Jerusalem and began what they called an “American Colony” and were joined by some Swedish Christians.  In 1888, Horatio died of malaria and was buried in Jerusalem.

Just prior to the turn of the century, the colony numbered about 150.  One member of the colony began taking pictures of and around Jerusalem around 1900.  These helped draw attention to Jerusalem and drew in many archeologists.

During WW I, Jerusalem was the subject of many battles between the Turks and the Brits.  Because the colony was respected by the Turks, they were asked to document the war in picture.  The colony also did much philanthropic work in Jerusalem during the war to alleviate the suffering locals were experiencing.

The colony ceased to exist as a colony in the late 1940’s.

Anna began a ministry called “The Spafford Children’s Center” which still exists in Jerusalem.  The Spafford family still has a hand in the operation of The American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, which was the communal home of the colony.