Born in Bingley, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Johnson worked on a farm until 1882, when he emigrated to the United States.
[1] Johnson was a member of the Fabian Society, on its radical wing, and unusually proposed in 1892 that Liberal Party officials should be ineligible for membership of the organisation.
[2] He was also a supporter of The Clarion, and was one of seven people present at a meeting at its office in 1892, when it was proposed that an independent labour party be formed.
The following year, he resigned his trade union post to become secretary of the Democratic Club, in succession to Shaw Maxwell.
[1] However, Shaw Maxwell soon returned to the post, and Johnson became treasurer of the Shop Assistants' Union, later serving a term as president.