Richard Green Johnson, Jr. (1900-1957) was born in Tallahassee to Richard G. Johnson, Sr. (see bio) and Margaret Ann “Maggie” Bell. Johnson attended the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and the University of Florida, graduating from Poughkeepsie Business School in New York. In 1929 he married Catharine Elizabeth Quinn (1909-1954), born in Benton County, Iowa, at her parents’ home on El Brillo Way in Palm Beach (see Quinn bio). Addison Mizner, a family friend, was a guest at the wedding. The Johnsons had three children: Richard Salisbury Johnson (see bio), Edward Howard Johnson, and Catharine Elizabeth Johnson.
Johnson started his career in real estate, and in the 1930s worked for Palm Beach County Tax Collector Stetson Sproul on the second floor of the 1916 courthouse. Johnson’s son, Richard, later recalled playing with a hand-cranked adding machine when he visited.
The family lived in both West Palm Beach and Pahokee, where Johnson had a house designed by Bedford Shoumate. He continued the farm started by his parents and grew tomatoes, peppers, celery, beans, and corn. The packinghouse, Pope-Johnson, Inc. , was located next to the Florida East Coast spur track near Pelican Lake to facilitate shipping. About 1950 Richard and Catharine Johnson moved permanently to a house at 305 Hibiscus Avenue, Palm Beach, which was built in 1925 and still exists.