William Edward Johnson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1870. Johnson was a grocery merchant in Asheville (Buncombe County), where he served as a member of the board of aldermen (1912-1914), as chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners (1914-1919), and commissioner of public highways (1920-1928). He died in Asheville on April 23, 1943.