Horatio Gates Spafford (October 20, 1828, Troy, New York - October 16, 1888, Jerusalem, Israel) is the author of the hymn "It Is Well with My Soul". Horatio was a lawyer in Chicago. He lost all of his possessions in the great Chicago fire. After that, he lost his only son to a disease at the age of four. He then planned a family holiday and was held up for business reasons. His family went ahead any way, on the ship all four of his daughters died and his wife survived.