Johnson received his early education in common schools, and graduated from the University of Rochester in 1863, delivering the poem on class day.

[1] From 1864 to 1868, he was connected with Robert Carter in editing the Rochester Democrat, a Republican newspaper, and from 1869 to 1872 was editor of the Concord, New Hampshire, Statesman.

For six years, he was secretary of the New York Authors Club, whose sumptuous and unique Liber Scriptorum (1893) he prepared with J. D. Champlin and G. C. Eggleston.

He also wrote: His wife was Helen Kendrick Johnson, a writer, poet, and prominent activist who opposed the women's rights movement.

[3] His sister, Evangeline Maria Johnson, graduated from Rochester Free Academy, and in 1877 married Joseph O'Connor, a journalist and poet.