It Is Well With My Soul was written after consecutive tragedies in Horatio Spaffords life, a successful attorney and real estate investor in Chicago. In 1871, he lost a substantial part of his investment in the Great Chicago Fire. In 1873, while crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship carrying his wife and daughters collided with another vessel, leading to the death of his daughters. Spaffords wife survived, and upon reuniting with her, Spafford pe ... See more [+] nned the hymns lyrics. The melody was composed by Philip Bliss, who named it Ville du Havre, after the ship that Spaffords daughters were on.