COUNTY TENNESSEE
B. L. Johnson, president of B. L. Johnson & Company, Incorporated, is a self-made man. He was born on a farm in Knox county, on the 9th of May, 1883, and received his early education in the country school near the home place. Subsequently he entered the Chilhowee Institute and was graduated in 1902. In 1905 he received his diploma from the Tennessee Normal College. Mr. Johnson worked his way through school by teaching and upon the completion of his education he turned to the business world and made his initial step in the retail grocery business. In 1907 B. L. Johnson opened a retail grocery business on his own account, which enterprise proved successful from the start. In 1912 he entered the confectionery business, jobbing as well, but in 1914 he disposed of his retail grocery interests and moved up to Wall street. There he was active in the confectionery jobbing business until 1919, when he was forced to seek larger quarters and moved to Nos. 209-11 Commerce avenue. Subsequently he organized the Wiehaus-McNutt Candy Company, equipping a factory to occupy the two top floors of the building occupied by B. L. Johnson & Company, confectionery jobbers. In 1918 he organized the Southern Confectionery Company, which is a sales organization. On the 1st of January, 1921, B. L. Johnson & Company bought the controlling interests of the Wiehaus-McNutt Candy Company, and continued the Southern Confectionery Company as a sales organization. The authorized capital stock of B. L. Johnson & Company was increased to one hundred thousand dollars and B. L. Johnson became president of the corporation.
He has since retained this office and his efficiency and innate executive ability have been dominant factors in the continued success of the corporation. B. L. Johnson & Company, Incorporated, boasts of one of the most modernly equipped candy factories in the south.The firm manufactures a complete line of candies, and employs from seventy-five to one hundred and twenty-five people. Mr. Johnson in every way safeguards his employes, providing for them the best of working conditions. He is, therefore, given their best work and in turn the company offers the public the best grade of candies. Politically B. L. Johnson gives his support to the republican party and the principles for which it stands. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. His religious faith is that of the Baptist church and he is a consistent communicant of the First church in this city. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce, of which body he has been vice president and treasurer. Since the age of seventeen years B. L. Johnson has made his own way in the world, overcoming the many obstacles in his path, and today enjoys well-merited success and the confidence and esteem of all who know him. He has not devoted his entire time and attention, however, to personal gain, for he has been a public-spirited citizen and has been one of the most energetic and resourceful promoters of the city's advancement.
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