The United States government conducts a census of its citizens every 10 years. It has done so since 1790. The earliest censuses only recorded the name of the "head of household" and then simply counted the rest of the members, grouping them by gender and age group. However, that changed in 1850 when all members of the household began to be enumerated, along with other pertinent information, such as each person's relationship to the head. Currently, censuses are available online through 1940. (The federal census of 1890 was unfortunately destroyed in a fire.)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts also conducted its own censuses in 1855 and 1865.

The censuses contain a wealth of information for the family historian (See "Dealing with the Census" for more information). They also contain many mistakes: incorrect names, incorrect spellings, incorrect ages, and the list goes on. However, if you can find your family in a census, it can provide a quick "snapshot" of where they were, what they were employed at and who was living in the household.

In the case of the 5 Goodhind brothers who came to America, HENRY ROBERT (age 24), FREDERICK (age 22) and RICHARD (age 17) all first show up in the 1860 federal census. Henry and Frederick had arrived in the port of New York together on the 20th of June, 1859, while Richard arrived there the 5th of March, 1860, just a few months before the census was taken in December. JAMES THOMAS (age 22) arrived in New York on the 24th of July, 1863. JOHN (age 26) arrived in New York on January 23, 1880. They all got straight to work at papermills.

Below you will find census images by year for each of the brothers. (Click on the year to see the image.) Beneath the census year is the name of the town in which they were living at the time. Unless otherwise noted, the town is in Massachusetts. If there is a number in parentheses (for example: 1880 (1)), that means the listing for the family continued on to the next page.

HENRY ROBERT GOODHIND (born 1834, died 1910)

1860	1865	1870 (1)	1870 (2)	1880 (1)	1880 (2)	1900	1910
Great Barrington	Great Barrington	Great Barrington	Great Barrington	Great Barrington	Great Barrington	Great Barrington	Great Barrington

FREDERICK GOODHIND (born 1836, died 1916)

		1860	1865	1870	1880	1900	1910
		Russell	Russell	Russell	Huntington	Farmington, Connecticut	Farmington, Connecticut

JAMES THOMAS GOODHIND (born 1841, died 1880)

	1865	1870	1880
	Dalton	Missing	Huntington

RICHARD GOODHIND (born 1842, died 1911)

	1860	1865	1870	1880	1900	1910
	Russell	Russell	Dalton	Dalton	Lee	Lee

JOHN GOODHIND (born 1853, died 1915)

	1880	1900	1910	1920
	Missing	Becket	Chicopee	Widow Amy, West Springfield

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