His obituary in the Advertiser Gleam, Guntersville, Alabama, said he was born near Albertville and grew up at Blountsville. He was a star football player at the high school at Blountsville, which was then the State Secondary Agricultural School. He was married while he and Roselle were students there.
Source retirement article, Advertiser Gleam, Guntersville, Alabama, 1973
In 1973 when Carl retired he had been a Baptist preacher for 37 years and a Guntersville business man for 32 years. His business career ranged from dry cleaning to buying hides to trading in real estate. At one time he and Walter Pruett of Gadsden own all of Buck's Pocket which is now a state park. He began his ministry in 1936 as paster at Warrenton.
His first business venture was in 1927, the same year he was married to Roselle Graves. It was between his junior and senior years in high school. He and his brother Harvey D. Johnson bought a dry cleaning shop from James Rains where the Masonic Building is now. They had it only that summer.
After 7 years at Gadsden as sales manager for a bakery, The American Bread Company, he returned to Claysville and went to work for $10 a week in his father JW Johnson's grocery store in Southtown. He started preaching about the same time abt. 1936. His father bought a produce business for $300 and turned it over to him. It was across from where the Post Office is now. He sold produce, feed and coal, and bought scrap iron, butter, eggs and hides. In a few years he was also operating 2 rolling stores.
He moved his business to a Southtown filling station, ran the station, and got into scrap iron on a larger scale. Along with buying and selling junk cars he also began trading in cars a little better than junk. Carl recalled a story about selling a man an Essex and the man brought it back. It was using so much gas that at 11cents a gallon he couldn't afford it. The man had not paid anything down nor made any payments so Carl took it back and the man bought an A-model Ford from Perk Norton for $35.
Carl stated getting into real estate. Once he bought a junk A-model for $12.50 and later traded it for 2 lots in Guntersville. One of them was on a hill above the Birmingham Highway that is now among the city's most valuable residential property.
Carl Johnson Motor Co, started business in 1938. About 1939 he was named the GMC truck dealer. Either the next year or the next (he's forgotten) he sold 110 trucks. In 1940 he became the Pontiac dealer. He retired from business in 1966.
Cause of Death: Heart trouble and diabetic
Funeral 2pm February 19, 1982, First Baptist Church, Guntersville, Alabama, Rev Harry Kirkley and Rev Willis Kelley officiating.
