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He realized very little from his venture, because he trusted so many people and helped so many in distress. "He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord," was a proverb he had learned in his youth.
Under date of January 17, 1853, we read in Church Chronology:
"The ship "Ellen Marie" sailed from Liverpool, England, with 332 Saints~ under the direction of Moses Clawson. It arrived at New Orleans March 6th, where Elder John Erown acted as Church emigration agent that season. The emigrants continued up the Mississippi river to Keokuk, Iowa, which had been selected as the outfitting place for the Saints crossing the plains in 1853."
The reason for the change in outfitting places was that the merchants in Council Bluffs were taking advantage of the Saints in their purchase of supplies. The Mayor of Keokuk was cooperative and a camping ground was selected on a hill by the river. It was said that this campground contained more people than the city. Unfortunately, the ocean voyage and trip up the river proved fatal to many of the immigrants. Wandle Mace, the Branch President, became very busy caring for the sick and burying the dead in the Keokuk Cemetery. William H. Folsom gave what assistance he could by building caskets and administering to the sick.
In March 1853 the Folsom family received a letter from Aunt Lydia Ann Folsom, enclosing a clipping from the Commercial Advertiser of Buffalo, New York, which read:
"Folsom, William. In this city on 21st instant, William Folsom. Funeral tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon at 2 o'clock from his late residence at 33 Jackson Street. Friends and acquaintances are respectfully invited to attend."
Lydia Ann gave some details of the services, calling attention to the fact that now there were but Ann (stepmother), Thaddeus and herself at home, but in .the family burial plot lay their father, mother (Hannah), sisters, Mary Jane Ford, Elizabeth and Sarah Augusta, and half-brothers Mart in and Adolphus. Dear, lovely Lydia Ann, who never married and never ceased to serve willingly in her care for others. It was impossible for William H. Folsom to return to Buffalo at that time, but the family was thankful they had made their recent visit.
Baby Frances Emily was born September 20, 1853, in Keokuk, Iowa.
Keokuk proved to be an unhealthy place for an outfitting station, so in 1854 Church Emigrant authorities moved their headquarters to Westport, near Kansas City, Missouri. Folsom didn't complain at the severe losses which his business suffered as a result of this change, but only urged the family to prepare to leave for the West before their money was gone. He purchased traveling equipment, stocked the wagons with supplies from the store, then sold the business for a meager sum. Realizing that he was late starting the journey, he hoped to make connection with a wagon train. Unhappily, the year's last wagon train out of Westport, Missouri, had gone on its way when the Folsom family arrived in 1854.
Daughter Harriet Amelia was now fifteen years old. She had inherited the beautiful and abundant light brown hair and hazel eyes of her grandmother, Hannah Skinner.