[2] He was the son of Sarah Amelia Tucker and James Miller Johnston.
[3] By the late 1880s, Johnston was engaged in business at Pocatello, Bingham, Idaho, with his brother-in-law James H. Bible, and his future brother-in-law John Guthrie Brown.
The company was Bible, Brown, and Johnston and advertised as "Indian Traders.
"[4] Johnston returned to Tennessee and married Margaret Key on 9 January 1896.
[5] In 1901, Johnston, along with Benjamin Thomas, began operations of the first Coca-Cola Bottling franchise in Chattanooga, Tennessee, serving parts of Tennessee and other nearby locations.