Joel H. Johnson (1802-83) was born in Massachusetts. In 1830, while in Ohio, he became acquainted with LDS missionaries and joined the Church. In 1832 he was called on a mission to New York; in 1833 he moved to Kirtland, built a sawmill, and furnished lumber for the temple. Active in organizing branches of the Church in Ohio, in the South, and in Illinois, he helped seek out the site for Nauvoo. He accompanied the Saints to Utah, settled at the mouth of Mill Creek Canyon, then was called to go south with George A. Smith to settle Southern Utah. He became a member of the territorial legislature.
Johnson\'s journal contains 736 hymns and songs. A volume,
Voices from the Mountains, containing prose and poetry, was published in 1881, and a book of poems,
Hymns of Praise, appeared in 1882. He died at Johnson, Utah. His \"High on the Mountain Top,\" is a hymn very familiar to practicing Mormons.
Included in
75 Significant Mormon Poets