Phillip Bliss and his wife were headed from their home in Rome, Pennsylvania, to Chicago to reunite with the evangelist D. L. Moody. On December 29th, 1876, their train, the Pacific Express was crossing a trestle bridge near Ashtabula, Ohio. The bridge collapsed, and the train cars fell into the ravine. In that day, each train car had a stove to heat the vehicle, and with the fall the train cars eventually caught fire. While Bliss initially survived, he went for his wife, and neither survived. This was the greatest loss of life in a train crash to date, and known to history as the Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster. The human remains were moved to Chestnut Grove Cemetery and buried in a mass grave. In his baggage was found the words to the hymn, I Will Sing of My Redeemer and His Wondrous Love to Me, set to music after his death.
