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"It is Well with My Soul"

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The hymn "It is Well with My Soul," or "When Peace Like a River," (1873), had tragic beginnings. Horatio G. Spafford lost a great fortune in the 1871 Chicago Fire, then lost his 4-year-old song shortly therafter. In 1873, he was inspired to go hear the Evangelizers Moody and Sankey in England, and to turn it into a family vacation with his four daughters and wife.  They left before him, aboard the French line Ville du Havre which collided with another boat and sank; only his wife survived. Somehow amidst this tragedy, Spafford penned this amazing hymn.  The tune "Ville due Havre" was written in honor of the ship by Phillip Bliss.

This song took longer to become popular but is beloved now in the late-20th and 21st centuries, and came recommended by one of our singers.


Sources: Robert J. Morgan, Then Sings My Soul (W Publishing, 2011). 
Score from: #155 from The Radio Hymnal (Shenandoah, IA: Henry Field Seed Co, 1927), showing how the advent of radio promoted hymn-singing. (see above)
Choir: The Community Choristers (2026); quintet v. 2; soloist v. 3: Norah Staifer
 

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