Horatio and Anna Spafford
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.” Matthew 7:24-25 NASB
When life is like fair weather many fail to see their need for Christ. But storms inevitably come to believers and non-believers alike. It is in those storms that Christ makes the critical difference. Out of ashes can come beauty for those with an eternal perspective.
Horatio Spafford, born October 20, 1828 in New York City was one such man who knew the difference. He moved to Chicago in 1856 and became the senior partner of the successful law firm Spafford, McDaid & Wilson. He also became a Sunday School teacher.
In his class was a beautiful young Norwegian named Anna Lawson, born in Stavanger, Norway on March 16, 1842. In 1846 her family came to Chicago. A cholera epidemic there claimed both of her parents and her younger brother, leaving her orphaned.
In 1857 she visited Horatio’s Sunday School class. The two became friends. A year later he proposed marriage, only to learn that Anna was just sixteen. They waited three years for her to attain the legal marrying age and tied the knot on September 5, 1861. They then moved to a home on twelve acres in Lake View, a northside Victorian suburb of Chicago. Horatio became an elder in the Fullerton Avenue Presbyterian Church. During that time Anna bore him five children: Annie, Horatio Jr, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta. The Spafford’s home became a meeting place for abolitionist and temperance causes. His thriving business enabled him to invest in Chicago real estate.
Then came the storms. Their four-year-old son Horatio Jr was stricken with scarlet fever and died. The great Chicago fire on October 8, 1871 destroyed many of Horatio’s investments. The Spafford’s opened their home to shelter many who were made homeless, but Anna became ill under the strain. Their family doctor recommended a trip to Europe to help her recover. A last-minute business complication forced Horatio to temporarily stay behind. Anna and the children would go to France and await Horatio there.
On November 15, 1873 Horatio watched Anna and the children depart New York aboard the SS Ville du Havre. Five ministers returning to Europe promised him they would look after his family. Three-year-old Tanetta became the darling of the ship as she ran about the deck singing “In the Sweet By-and-Bye we shall meet on that beautiful Shore!”
On the sixth night of the voyage, after her girls were in bed, Anna walked the deck with Reverend Nathanael Weiss. “It seems to me almost impossible that a ship can cross this immense ocean without danger, when I think that a few planks are all that separate us…from the depths of the sea,” she remarked.
At 2 am the next morning the Ville du Havre was struck and mortally wounded by the British ship Lochearn. Efforts to abandon ship were hampered because the newly painted lifeboats were stuck to the deck.
Tanetta clasped the hand of Reverend Weiss. “Pray for me,” she cried. “May God have mercy on us all,” he responded. Upon spotting her mother, Tanetta ran to her. Just then the deck beneath them caved. Into the cold water they plunged, where Tanetta quickly disappeared. Anna was knocked unconscious by a piece from the ship. Maggie and Bessie came to the surface clinging to an American man, who swam for a lifeboat. But both fell away and were gone. Eleven-year-old Annie was last seen on the deck of the ship as it broke apart.
The crew of the Lochearn rescued everyone they could. Anna was found floating on a plank. Upon being pulled aboard she frantically searched for her daughters, screaming as she went. “They are lost! They are lost!” She ran to the rail, intent on joining them, but Reverend Weiss seized her before she could jump. Only eighty-one souls from the Ville du Havre were saved. The remaining 226 perished, including all four Spafford daughters.
The Lochearn itself was in bad shape. When another British ship came by, the Lochearn was abandoned in favor of the other ship, which then took everyone to England. Once on dry land, Anna sent a telegram to her husband. “Saved alone. What shall I do?”
Upon receiving Anna’s message, Horatio set off to join her. During his voyage, the captain informed him that they were passing over the very spot where the Ville du Havre had gone down. Spafford then returned to his cabin to write one of the most beloved hymns of all time. Later it was set to music by his friend Philip Bliss.
In August, 1881 the Spafford’s left America and settled in Jerusalem. There they served the needy, cared for the sick, and took in homeless children. Horatio died on October 16, 1888 from malaria. Anna continued their work until she passed on April 17, 1923. Both were buried in Jerusalem.
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.
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.
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!
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 between each stanza)
It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.
