North Canton Man Keeps Abraham Lincoln's Legacy Alive Through Social Media

Last weekend, Abraham Lincoln partied like it was 1861.

How do we know?

Because he tweeted it.

Geoff Elliott, a North Canton resident and history buff, takes on the persona of Abraham Lincoln on both Facebook and Twitter to educate others about our country’s 16th president. He updates the social media sites as if it’s actually 1861, giving viewers an account of what Lincoln was doing on that exact date 150 years ago.

“It’s pretty nerdy,” admitted Elliott, who tests software for FedEx. The GlenOak High School and University of Akron grad said his interest in Lincoln started after his parents took him to Lincoln’s birthplace, Hodgenville, Ky., before he could even read.

His obsession (which, he’s eager to offer up, does not include dressing as Lincoln) grew rapidly from there. He started The Abraham Lincoln Blog more than three years ago, and he updates that one to two times a month. The blog, which now receives 700-800 hits a day from people around the world, started as a venture to make money, and it’s grown into a hobby.

“I decided I didn’t know anything practical, but I did know about Abraham Lincoln,” Elliott said.

He started tweeting as Lincoln a year ago and updating Facebook about three weeks ago. As of Thursday afternoon, he had 172 “likes” on Facebook and 857 followers on Twitter.

On the social media sites, Elliott updates to commemorate the 150th anniversary of  Lincoln’s inaugural journey to Washington, D.C., he said.

And if you check out those sites, you’ll see Elliott doesn’t break character often. Just look at his Facebook interests. While most of your friends list NCIS and Grey’s Anatomy as their favorite TV shows, Lincoln asks “What is ‘TV?’” The thought of a favorite movie also is baffling.

(With Lincoln's birthday on Saturday, we wonder if he'll get a flood of Facebook well wishes, like those received by most of us still kicking?)

Some of his viewers have done their research, too, and are able to interact with “Lincoln” and talk about what’s on his agenda for that day. Elliott said he gets a lot of his facts from the Lincoln Log, a website that allows users to search for what Lincoln was doing on a specific day.

So how long will Elliott’s experiment last?

He wants to keep the updates going — especially those on Facebook— until John Wilkes Booth shoots Lincoln, meaning the final end date for updates would be April 14, 2015.

Lincoln was unconscious into the next day and actually died April 15, 1865.

“I can’t write Facebook updates while he’s unconscious, can I?” Elliott said, adding he'll likely write one final blog post or update as himself upon Lincoln's death.

Most of Elliott's friends and family members either tolerate or support his unwavering interest in Lincoln — even his wife, Pinar, who is more on the tolerant side of that spectrum.

"My wife is tolerant, at best," he said, smiling. "In her opinion, if something happened more than a month ago, she's not interested."

He said social media has helped him connect and meet other Lincoln fans around the world.

“I would never have expected for social media to give me contacts within the field, to make friends for me,” Elliott said. “Some of these people are so expert in the field, I’m learning from them. So I love it. I’m all for it.”