Spafford and his wife had four daughters and a son. In 1870, his four-year-old son died from Scarlet Fever. Just a year later, when The Great Chicago Fire happened, it left 300 people dead, 100,000 people homeless, and the entire central business district destroyed. The fire also took a huge toll on Spafford's finances since he owned a large amount of real estate in the city.
In 1873, Spafford arranged to take his wife and daughters on a vacation to Europe. He was going to visit Moody while he was there. On the day their ship was scheduled to leave, Spafford had some last-minute business to attend to. So he put his family on the ship and told them he'd catch up with them soon.
