[2] He retained this position until December 1854, when he resigned at age 40 to move to Kansas Territory to support the creation of a Free-State town by the New England Emigrant Aid Company.

[5] Two months later, in June 1855, the steamboat Hartford, carrying 75 settlers from Ohio, ran aground in the Kansas River near the settlement.

Other settlers arriving in Manhattan that year included his brother, William Goodnow; his sister, Lucinda Parkerson; and his brother-in-law, Joseph Denison.

After the Territorial Legislature in Shawnee Mission began passing proslavery laws in July 1855, Free-Staters met to decide how to respond.

Every year from 1857 to 1861, Goodnow spent several months in the East raising funds for the construction of Blue Mont Central College and Manhattan's Methodist church.

Following Kansas's admission to the Union in 1861, Goodnow led a lobbying effort to have Blue Mont Central College converted to the state university.

In 1867, Goodnow was selected agent for the sale of the 90,000 acres (364 km2) of land granted by the federal government to Kansas State Agricultural College, a position he held until 1873.