[1] He married Mary Elsa (Alice) Jacobs in 1800 and they were the parents of 15 children: Alice (Elsa), Robert, Fanny, John Jr., Luke, Olmstead, Lyman, Emily, Marinda (married Orson Hyde), Mary, Justin, Edwin, Charlotte, Albert, and Joseph.
[2][3] In early 1831, Johnson's sons Luke and Lyman were baptized into the Church of Christ, which had been founded by Joseph Smith the previous year.
After their sons were baptized, Johnson and his wife travelled with Methodist preacher Ezra Booth to Kirtland, Ohio, to learn more about the church.
As the Johnsons and others from the Hiram area visited with Joseph Smith in the Newel K. Whitney home, they discussed the gifts of the Spirit as held in the early Church.
While living at the farm, Smith recorded a number of revelations which are included in the Doctrine and Covenants and continued his translation of the Bible.
[2][5] A more recent work indicates that the official position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is that Johnson did not lose his membership.