Johnson began corresponding with West Virginia Governor William E. Stevenson, canvassing across the state to arouse public sentiment in support of a school for the blind.

The bill establishing the school was presented to the West Virginia House of Delegates for a vote, and before it became state law the words "deaf and dumb" were inserted before "blind" throughout its text.

The final version of the bill establishing the West Virginia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind became state law on March 3, 1870.

[1][2][3][7] His affluent parents were determined to prepare Johnson and his brother for the challenges of life by providing them with the opportunities afforded to sighted children,[1][2] arranging for their sons to receive a good education and "proper instruction" and teaching them self-sufficiency.

[7] James (Howard's brother) enrolled at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in Staunton in 1848 at age ten, completing his coursework there in 1855.

[1][2][7][9] The New Market school was taught by Joseph Salyards (or Saliards), a professor and writer described as one of "the most learned men of the age" and "a most remarkable scholar in many respects.

[9] At New Market, Johnson made so much progress in mathematics, literature, science and foreign languages[1] with his sighted classmates that he returned to Franklin after two years.

[2][6] In 1866 the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind in Staunton offered him the opportunity to advance his professional studies in education, and he completed one term in 1867.

[7][10][11] When Johnson returned to Franklin from New Market he was reunited with James, and they founded a private classical school where he taught during the winter of 1865–66.

[7][17] After drafting the bill, Johnson traveled to Wheeling; en route, at Fairmont, he met former Union Governor of Virginia Francis Harrison Pierpont.

[17] Undaunted by these rebukes from prominent West Virginian politicians, Johnson remained the leading advocate for a state institution for the blind.

[19][21] The approved bill progressed through the necessary steps, and shortly before it became state law it was amended by House Delegate James Monroe Jackson of Wood County; Johnson advocated the insertion of "deaf and dumb" before "blind" in every instance in its text as a "humane and economic" measure.

[14] Jackson's amendment was accepted, and the bill establishing the West Virginia Institution for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind became state law on March 3, 1870.

"[22] After the bill's passage Johnson was appointed by Governor Stevenson to the institution's inaugural Board of Regents, which convened in Wheeling on April 20, 1870.

[14][23][24][25] Johnson and his fellow board members began a competition among West Virginia municipalities for the location of the new institution for the deaf and blind; the three finalists were Wheeling, Parkersburg and Romney.

However, after the board's adjournment Female College supporters, unwilling to see the school closed, pressured city authorities to rescind their offer.

[11] He was the subject of an April 1899 article in The West Virginia School Journal, where he was described as "still in sound health and vigor" and "cheerful and patient" after 29 years of teaching.

[11] Despite his efforts to establish the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind and his long tenure, Johnson earned a minimal salary which enabled him to "eke out a bare living.

Ah, veiled and clouded in eternal night,The opening blossom, and the verdant plain,And landscapes, smiling in the mellow light, On me expend their holy charms in vain.