From the obituary of son, Desbery Johnson

His father, James Johnson, moved from Virginia to Pennsylvania about the year 1762. Here, Desbery and his twin brother Griffith were born. Soon the Indians began to ravage the country, and James, with his wife and three children were compelled to retrace their steps over the hills of Pennsylvania to Virginia for safety, carrying the three children on their back.

His father (James Johnson) was a prisoner with the Indians three years and was released after the treaty of Virginia. After his release he was met by the son at Cincinatti O., after an absence of twenty years. At the age of twenty-six he became of member of the Presbyterian Church, with which he stood identified until his death, a period of seventy-six years"

Another Source Says: James Johnson was a Pennsylvania Ranger in the Revolutionary War and lived to be 107 years old. Several stories of the frontier life of this family are available. Resident of West Virginia during Revolutionary War. May have been born 1732. In his religious affiliations James Johnson was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and several of his sons were ministers.

James Johnson lived in Ohio from 1785 to 1839.

Among the "intruders" driven out by the troops of Colonel Harmar at Fort McIntosh was Thomas Johnson, a brother of James Johnson. Not many of the settlers left, and if they did they soon returned with others. If James Johnson's family was not one of those expelled in the spring of 1785, they arrived in the summer or fall of that year. He sold his farm in Westmoreland County, Pa., "with the expectation of acquiring larger possessions farther west" to provide for his "large family". Crossing the Ohio river he "bought some improvements on what was called Beach Bottom Flats, two and a half miles from the river" about three or four miles up Short Creek. He expected to hold the land "by improvement-right under the Virginia claim".

In 1793, when he was passed sixty years of age, James Johnson was sent out from Fort Henry block house at Wheeling, Virginia, with Capt. William Boggs, Robert Maxwell, Joseph Daniels and a ___ Miller to explore the headwaters of Stillwater Creek, now in Harrison County. At night they were surprised by the Indians. Capt. Boggs was scalped after being shot. His companions fled, Johnson and two others succeeding in reaching the block house.

The same year while in camp on McIntire Creek with ___ McIntire and John Layport, two neighbors, the Indians attacked them. James Johnson was captured after a hard struggle but his two companions were killed. He was taken to Sandusky and cruelly punished by the savages. Forced to run the gauntlet, he barely escaped with his life. Finally it was decided to burn him at the stake. After the fagots had been lighted and the red men were dancing about him torturing him, a heavy rainstorm put out the fire. This was taken as a sign of disfavor on the part of the Great Spirit and he was given his freedom as a favored prisoner. He lived two years with the Indians on the lookout continually for a good opportunity to escape. Not until the defeat of the Indians by General Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1795 was he released in accordance with the terms of the treaty which followed. On one occasion British traders sought to obtain his liberty but without avail. When he finally returned home he was so emaciated, hairy and tattered that his own wife and children did not recognize him. James never tired of telling his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren about his experience with the Wyandotte Indians. In the family annals it vied in interest with the Johnson lads, and as time passed accumulated many embellishments to the original tale.

After 1795, James Johnson settled down as a contented farmer. From Wells township on Short Creek in Jefferson County, he changed his residence several times to improve his economic condition and at last located in Washington township, Harrison County, where he lived until his death in 1839. Like most men of that day he bought and sold land.