Keith's letters of credit for him never materialized and Franklin was stranded in London. Franklin remained in London where he worked for Samuel Palmer as a typesetter in a printer's shop in what is now the Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great in the Smithfield area of London. 

While Franklin was in London, Deborah married a man named John Rodgers. This proved to be a regrettable decision. Rodgers shortly avoided his debts and prosecution by fleeing to Barbados with her dowry, leaving her behind. Rodgers's fate was unknown, and because of bigamy laws, Deborah was not free to remarry.