The Story Behind 'It Is Well with My Soul'

The song “It Is Well with My Soul” teaches that even when life is very sad or confusing, a person can still have deep peace because God is with them.

🌿 What the Song Is About

The hymn “It Is Well with My Soul” was written by Horatio Spafford in 1873 after he went through very painful tragedies. He lost his young son, then a huge fire destroyed almost everything his family owned. Later, his wife and four daughters were traveling on a ship that sank. His wife survived, but all four daughters died.

When Spafford traveled across the ocean to meet his grieving wife, the captain showed him the place where the ship had gone down. Right there, looking at the water where his daughters had died, he wrote the first lines of the hymn.

🌿 What the Words Mean

Even though Spafford was heartbroken, he wrote about peace—a peace that doesn’t come from life being easy, but from trusting God.

Here are the main ideas in the hymn:

1. God gives peace even in sadness.

The first line says:
“When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll…”
This means:
Sometimes life feels calm like a river, and sometimes it feels like giant waves of sadness. But God teaches us to say, “It is well with my soul.”

2. Jesus took all our sin—every bit of it.

One of the most famous lines says:
“My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross.”
This means Jesus didn’t forgive just some sins—He forgave all of them. That truth gave Spafford hope even in deep grief.

3. God’s promises are stronger than our pain.

The hymn reminds us that even when life hurts, God’s love, forgiveness, and future promises are bigger than anything we face.

🌿 Why People Love This Song

People love “It Is Well with My Soul” because:

It is honest about sadness.
It shows strong faith in hard times.
It reminds us that God never leaves us.
It helps people feel calm when they are scared or hurting.

Many families sing it at church, at home, or during difficult moments because it brings comfort and hope.

Was “It Is Well with My Soul” a poem first?

Horatio Spafford wrote the words as a poem in 1873 after his daughters died in a shipwreck. He wrote it while sailing over the place where the ship had gone down.

Later, a musician named Philip P. Bliss read the poem and wrote the melody we know today. So the order was:

Poem written by Horatio Spafford
Music added by Philip Bliss
Became the hymn we sing now

That’s why the words feel so deep — they were written from real sorrow and real faith.

🌿 Why This Matters for the Song

When Horatio Spafford wrote the poem that became “It Is Well with My Soul,” he had just lost:

His son
His four daughters

He wrote the words while sailing over the place where the ship sank.
That’s why the hymn feels so deep — it came from a father’s heartbreak and his trust in God even in sorrow.

🌿 The Children Horatio Spafford.

The writer was Horatio Spafford. He and his wife Anna had several children.

Here are their names, gently and clearly:

👶 1862 — First Child Born

Annie Spafford

Born: 1862
Died: 1873 (age 11, in the shipwreck)

👶 1864 — Second Child Born

Maggie (Margaret) Spafford

Born: 1864
Died: 1873 (age 9, in the shipwreck)

👶 1866 — Third Child Born

Bessie (Elizabeth) Spafford

Born: 1866
Died: 1873 (age 7, in the shipwreck)

👶 1868 — Fourth Child Born

Tanetta Spafford

Born: 1871
Died: 1873 (age 2, in the shipwreck)

👶 1870 — Fifth Child Born

Horatio Spafford Jr.

Born: 1870
Died: 1871 (age 4, from sickness)

⚠️ 1873 — The Shipwreck

Anna (the mother) survives
Four daughters die: Annie, Maggie, Bessie, Tanetta
Horatio writes the poem that becomes “It Is Well with My Soul”

👶 1878 — Sixth Child Born

Bertha Spafford

Born: 1878
Lived to adulthood
Helped run the American Colony in Jerusalem
Wrote a book about her family

👶 1881 — Seventh Child Born

Grace Spafford

Born: 1881
Lived to adulthood
Helped the poor, sick, and children in Jerusalem

👶 1883 — Eighth Child Born

Baby Spafford

Born: 1883
Died very young (infant death)

🌿 Summary: Who Died and Who Lived

Children who died young (6 total):

Annie (11)
Maggie (9)
Bessie (7)
Tanetta (2)
Horatio Jr. (4)
Baby Spafford (infant)

Children who lived to be adults (2 total):

Bertha
Grace

These two daughters carried on the family’s work of helping others.

Children who died in the shipwreck (the tragedy that inspired the hymn):

Annie (age 11)
Maggie (age 9)
Bessie (age 7)
Tanetta (age 2)

These four daughters were traveling with their mother when the ship sank in 1873.

Children who lived:

Horatio Jr. (their only son, who died earlier at age 4 from sickness)
Bertha (born after the tragedy)
Grace (born after the tragedy)
Another baby girl (born later, sometimes listed as “Baby Spafford” because she died very young)

So the Spafford family had eight children in total, but only two daughters — Bertha and Grace — grew up to be adults.

written by Bell

The Story Behind ‘It Is Well with My Soul’