James Madison Goodhue (March 31, 1810 – August 27, 1852) was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and founder of the Minnesota Pioneer, Minnesota's first newspaper, which eventually merged with the Saint Paul Dispatch to become the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

[1][b] He moved to Illinois and spent time as a farmer, likely with his uncle Ezra Goodhue, in Plainfield before practicing law in Galesburg.

[2]: 6, 7  During a smallpox epidemic in the winter of 1843–1844, he met a teacher named Henrietta Kneeland and married her on December 21, 1843.

and began to write editorials under the pseudonym "G."[2]: 11  In October he revealed his name, but only to announced that he was returning to the practice of law.

[3] Early on, Goodhue would often hand-deliver the papers to his Saint Paul subscribers, gathering more news for the next edition.

On January 16, 1851, he published a "scathing" editorial about U.S. Marshall Alexander Mitchell and Judge David Cooper, calling them "absentee office holders" and saying that "it would be a blessing if the absence of two such men were prolonged for eternity.

Goodhue purchased pistols and the two men met near the state capitol at noon on February 12, 1951, and engaged in a duel.

Contemporary reports suggest that this, combined with mental strain from his work, contributed to the illness that led to his death.

[20][12] In 1850, Goodhue was named the first overseer of the Ramsey County Poor Farm, and was paid $20 ($732.00 in 2023) annually for that work.