George Johnson was born around 1852 in North Carolina. Johnson worked as a farm laborer and resided in Lower Town Creek, Upper Fishing Creek, and Swift Creek (all Edgecombe County), North Carolina. Johnson was charged with larceny on November 29, 1873, and sentenced to three years in the North Carolina State Penitentiary. Johnson was recorded in the North Carolina State Penitentiary's Descriptive Register for the Years 1869-1884 as prisoner number 774. In his sentencing records, Johnson's race is noted as "colored." Johnson was twenty-one years old when he was arrested. He was noted as possessing no formal education, meaning he could not read or write at that time. During his incarceration, Johnson was leased to the Western North Carolina Railroad Company to work on railroad construction. He was discharged on September 20, 1876. He married Pinkey Ann "Pink" Johnson in 1877.