In 1812 his parents William and Rhoda Gookins moved with most of their children to Rodman, New York, near the eastern end of Lake Ontario.
After a year he moved back to Terre Haute to become the editor of the Western Register, until the paper was purchased in June 1832 and replaced by the Wabash Courier.
Gookins and other lawyers proposed that each party nominate two candidates for the four member supreme court, to maintain balance, but their views were ignored in the subsequent elections.
Gookins himself was nominated for an Indiana Supreme Court position by the Whigs in 1852, but their slate was defeated.
[3][4][5][6][7] Gookins wrote newspaper articles and contributed a small number of political satires to the literary magazines.