Selma Lagerlöf's novel Jerusalem is based in part on the historical emigration of Christians from Nås, Sweden, to Jerusalem in 1896. There, the community joined a pre-existing community called "the American Colony," founded and run by Chicago natives Horatio and Anna Spafford.
Horatio Spafford was a Chicago lawyer and Presbyterian elder who married the Norwegian expat Anna Larsen in Chicago. The couple endured a series of tragedies, including the loss of their properties in the Great Fire of Chicago in 1871 and the death of their four daughters during the wreck of the S.S. Ville du Havre in 1873, a disaster from which Anna Spafford was one of the few survivors. The couple had three more children in the following years, though their son, Horatio, died of scarlet fever at age four. This final tragedy compelled the couple to embrace Christianity more fully, forming their own community in Chicago, called "the Overcomers" by outsiders. In response to his grief, Horatio also penned the famous hymn, It is Well with My Soul.
In an attempt to return to an idealized utopian vision of early Christianity, the Spaffords, along with thirteen others, moved to the Old City in Jerusalem in 1881 and established the American Colony. The group created various charity projects to assist the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian populations in Jerusalem, including running hospitals, soup kitchens, and orphanages, particularly during the aftermath of World War II. Controversially, the colony required a vow of celibacy from all its participants and raised children separately from their nuclear families, often using child labor to further the community's vision. Additionally, Horatio hoped his philanthropic work would bring about the Second Coming of Jesus.
Toward the end of his life, Horatio Spafford claimed to be "the Messiah," a delusion possibly caused by malaria. However, even after his death, the colony expanded. Anna Spafford invited members of the Swedish Evangelical Church, led by Olaf Henrik Larsson, to join the community. To accommodate the new members, the colony moved to an estate outside the city, quickly becoming self-sufficient. Colony member Elijah Meyers documented the community, nearby archaeological sites, the 1915 plague of locusts, and World War I through the colony's photography division, called "The Matson Photo Service."
The American Colony dissolved as a commune in the 1940s, though many members remained in Jerusalem. In the 1950s, the colony building was converted into a hotel, which has hosted several celebrities and public figures and was notably the venue for the 1993 Oslo Peace Accord meetings.
