Around the year 1830, Johnson sold his farm in Pomfret and moved to Amherst, Ohio.

He went on another mission to both Ohio and Kentucky in 1835 during which he engaged in strong debates with Campbellites, on one occasion turning their rejection of Aaronic and Melchezidek priesthood on its head by insisting if not in either of these orders their leaders must be of the order of the priests of Baal.

[1] The main reason that Johnson had stopped in Illinois and not continued west was that he had care of the sick coming from Kirtland.

He energetically preached the gospel in Carthage and felt he won many people in that area to be friendly to the Mormons cause.

[5] Johnson later had a large amount of success in baptizing families that lived along Crooked Creek.

After this, Johnson directed his new converts in the forming of the town of Ramus (now Webster, Illinois).

[9] In 1846, mobs forced Johnson to flee Ramus and move to Knox County, Illinois.

A poem written in 1841 by Johnson is sometimes used by opponents of the authenticity of the Book of Mormon to demonstrate that Oliver Cowdery at times wavered in his testimony as one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon:[10] "... Or prove the gospel was not true / Because old Paul the Saints could kill?

[1] Collections of his writings were published in the pamphlet "Voice from the Mountains" in 1881 and a 344-page book of poems in 1882.

[1] Other estimates place Johnson's total work in writing hymn texts and poems at about 1,000.

[17] The only other hymn by Johnson in the current English edition of the LDS Church hymnal is "The Glorious Gospel Light Has Shone" (no.

[19] Johnson maintained a journal in which was found the earliest source for the interpretation of "hot drinks" in the Word of Wisdom meaning coffee and tea.