American Colony / It Is Well With My Soul

Written on stationary from the Brevoort House in Chicago, Horatio Spafford penned this famous hymn while on a ship as he crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Not that long ago, his daughters had drowned after the Ville du Havre suffered a tragic crash. His wife telegraphed back, “Saved alone.” The manuscript is now found at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem.

From Spaffordhymn

The term “American Colony” can conjure many different thoughts to different people in many locations. Historically, in Jerusalem, it will refer at one time to a group of Americans, under the leadership of Horatio Spafford who started a humanitarian work which continues to this day in a building, known as Spafford House, located at an elevated section of the Old City, abutting the northern walls between Herod’s Gate and Damascus Gate. The vista from the roof of this building commands a spectacular panorama across Jerusalem, even as far as the Dead Sea and the Mountains of Moab.