Johns was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to George Sibley Johns and Minnehaha McDearmon. George Sibley Johns was an editor of the "St. Louis Post Dispatch." George and Minnehaha had three sons. They resided in a home on Compton avenue, where Orrick was born, and later moved farther west, to Cook avenue. The family moved several times during Orrick's childhood, including to St. Charles, Kirkwood, and to the city's West End. Johns' family settled in a house on Cabanne Place when Orrick was six years old.