In 1846, his father loaded the family and their belongings on a raft and floated down the Allegany and Ohio Rivers to Maysville, Kentucky.

Willson's father had been a Unitarian, and his mother was a Seventh Day Baptist, but Forceythe developed his own unique beliefs about spirituality.

Shortly following her death, he told a friend "It has left me neither afflicted nor bereaved... And strangest of yet all, the blessed Presence is at times so plain that I can scarcely believe the tender tie of her embodiment is broken."

Willson attended Antioch College in Ohio and Harvard University but was prevented from finishing a credential by the onset of tuberculosis.

He also published some of his early poetry in the Journal, including his most famous work, "The Old Sergeant", which told a real account of actual people.