Listen to Sample of the Song
The story behind this beautiful and inspiring hymn gives hope to the world with testimony and the power of faith through the most trying times. Horatio Spafford was a wealthy Chicago lawyer with a thriving legal practice, a beautiful home, a wife, four daughters and a son. He was a devout Christian and faithful student of the scriptures
At the height of his financial and professional success, Horatio and his wife Anna suffered the tragic loss of their young son. Shortly, thereafter the Great Chicago Fire destroyed almost every real estate investment that Spafford had. With a much needed vacation Horatio sent his wife and four daughters to sail on a large ship to England and he would join them later. Several days later he received notice that his family's ship had encountered a collision. All four of his daughters drowned; only his wife had survived.
With heavy heart, Spafford boarded a boat that would take him to his grieving Anna in England. It was on this trip that he penned those now famous words, "When sorrow like sea billows roll; it is well, it is well with my soul."