B. H. Johnson was born on March 20, 1811. He was first married to a woman named Maria Evelyn who died in 1846. Johnson later remarried a woman from the Kennerly family who lived near Waynesboro, Virginia. During the Civil War, his wife and children lived with Johnson's in-laws. As a Methodist minister for various circuits in eastern Virginia, Johnson preformed many marriage ceremonies, funerals, baptisms, and attended the Virginia Conference of Methodist Ministers. Much of his time was spent traveling to different congregations and dining with parishioners. Often ailing, Johnson sometimes took opium "to check the disordered state of his bowels." Johnson's family and friends also frequently fell ill--especially with virulent bouts of typhoid. An ardent Confederate, Johnson took particular interest in the movement of "Yankee" forces while traveling his circuit.