Johnson was one of the prime movers in the formation of Knott County in 1884, and became Knott's first county attorney.

Fielding Johnson was from one of the first families to settle the Knott County area in the very early 1800's.  He was raised on Carr Creek and lived in the Johnson log houses, the oldest surviving houses in the county, presently located near Carr Fork Lake.         

Johnson was a farmer, lawyer, and school teacher.  His law practice was chiefly in the Whitesburg court until Knott was formed.  His practice extended to Wise, VA., where he met his wife, Sarah Dotson, the daughter of the Wise sheriff.

Johnson worked with state Representative Robert Bates and former representative and later congressman T. Y. Fitzpatrick, to pass an action in the 1884 legislative session to form Knott from parts of  Perry, Letcher, Floyd, and Breathitt counties.

As the first county attorney, Johnson had many responsibilities in the formative period of the county's history.  He represented the county on an 1887 boundary dispute with Perry County. The change in the boundary (from Elk Fork to the mouth of Trace Fork) added  9,000 more acres to Knott, making the total area 348 square miles. Johnson was a sergeant in the 14th Kentucky Calvary during
the Civil War.                                                                       

Corbett Mullins
May 21, 2003