In 1871 , Horatio Spafford , a prosperous lawyer and Presbyterian church elder and his wife , Anna , were living with their four young daughters in Chicago . That year , the Great Fire erupted in Chicago , devastating the city . In November 1873 , Anna and the children set sail for Europe aboard the S.S. '' Ville du Havre '' with a group of friends . Horatio stayed behind , detained by business . On November 21 , the ocean liner collided with a British vessel and sank within minutes . Anna was rescued , but all the children drowned . Horatio received the tragic news in a telegram from Anna that read : " Saved alone . What shall I do ? " Horatio immediately left for England to bring his wife home . Crossing the Atlantic , the captain of the ship came to Spafford and said that they were approaching the area where the ship went down that had his wife and daughters on board . There Spafford wrote the lyrics of the hymn " It Is Well with My Soul , " the music being added later by Philip Bliss
Great Fire
Great Chicago Fire
American Colony, Jerusalem