Introduction: In this article, Melissa Davenport Berry gives us a heartwarming Thanksgiving story about returned children and a gift turkey. Melissa is a genealogist who has a website, americana-archives.com, and a Facebook group, New England Family Genealogy and History.

The photo caption reads:

This 35-pound gobbler was received with astonishment and joy by Mrs. Mary Ann Weed, 18979 Minnesota, Erin Township, and her dozen children. For fun, she hitched a rope to its neck and tried to persuade Stanley, 2, in her arms, to drive the turkey toward the kitchen. In the front row, beside Stanley and their mother, left to right, are: Lorraine, 3; Harry, 13, holding the baby, Joseph, six months; and Edwin Jr., 11, patting the bird. Standing in the second row are, left to right: Elizabeth, 9; Ned, 5; Alvin, 4; Robert, 7; and Archie, 8. The two older girls standing in the rear are: Priscilla, 15; and Josephine, 17.

In 1954 two youngsters in Erwin Township, Michigan, made headlines when they went missing for over six days, leaving their family and community in a panic. The ordeal started on October 27 and ended on November 2.

Harry “Gus” (13) and his sister Elizabeth (9), two of the twelve children born to Edwin and Mary Ann (Wysocki) Weed in Erwin Township, Michigan, spent five cold nights without shelter or food except for candy they managed to hustle up for Halloween.

According to Harry, dubbed the “Huck Finn” of Michigan, he wanted to see the world and was not too happy with what school offered him. He brought along his little sister and the two had quite an adventure.

It was a waitress, Inis Keesee, who brought the ordeal to an end when Harry and Elizabeth went into her restaurant asking for a glass of water. Keesee recognized the children’s photo from the many published pleas put out by their parents and police. Keesee phoned the local station, and the cops picked up the hungry adventurers.

Here is a photo of Harry and Elizabeth, holding an apple and looking bedraggled, but quite happy to be heading home after roughing it in the woods.

As upset as mom and dad were, they were too relieved by their return to punish their little runaways. The authorities and community also felt the sentiment – and a local packing company rewarded the family with a large turkey for their Thanksgiving feast!

This article reports:

Fate, in the guise of a 35-pound turkey, has been kind to two young runaways and their 10 brothers and sisters at the Edwin Weed home in Erwin Township.

Harry, 13, became the township’s “Huck Finn” when he skipped school last Oct. 27 and took his sister Elizabeth, 9, with him.

The youngsters began a six day “adventure trip” which stretched all the way to Flat Rock from their home just north of Roseville.

When they were found and returned home, their behavior was repaid by kindness due to the relief felt by police and the joy of their parents.

Now it has been rewarded by a Detroit packing plant.

“I hope this is a lesson to Harry in how Good is returned for Evil sometimes,” his mother, Mary Ann, said when the live turkey came earlier this week.

“For all of us, it is like life turning its other cheek to us, after all the worry we caused ourselves and the authorities.”

Harry nodded assent, but confided later he does not exactly like school and that he would rather be lucky than smart.

Elizabeth, who is credited with being led astray, has vowed never to run away again, however.

Excitement ran high in the crowded, seven-room frame home at 18979 Minnesota when the gobbler, feet hobbled, showed up in custody of Jack Silberman, of Miller Bros. packing firm, 1900 Wilkins.

At first, the children were afraid to go near the bird. Later on, their mother couldn’t keep them away.

Robert, 7, remarked that “It’s almost like Christmas.”

All were downcast when the turkey was returned to the plant to be prepared for their table. But the sadness ended abruptly as Mrs. Weed outlined her menu for today.

It includes stuffing, cranberry sauce, salad, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, bread, milk, ice cream, and two kinds of pie – mincemeat and pumpkin.

“First,” she said, “I’ll have to borrow the biggest roaster I can find.” No pan in the house was half big enough to hold the turkey.

To feed her family the other days of the year, Mrs. Weed works alongside her husband at a sand pit on the outskirts of Fraser, a township village. He owns a truck, a power shovel and a bulldozer, and runs his own supply business in sand and topsoil.

“I keep the books and handle the money, and sometimes drive the truck,” she said.

Josephine, 17, who is out of school, is the family’s “other mother” with morning help from Priscilla, 15, who attends Fraser High School in the afternoon.

The other children are Edwin Jr., 11; Archie, 8; Ned, 5; Alvin, 4; Lorraine, 3; Stanley, 2; and Joseph, six months. Eddie and Archie attend Greater Gratiot Elementary School, with Harry, Elizabeth and Robert.

Silberman asked the Detroit News to choose a large and deserving family in the Detroit area to receive the turkey.

So, out of deference to the spirit of a “Huck Finn,” the Weeds were selected.

“We have much to be thankful for, indeed,” Mrs. Weed told her family after Harry said “grace” at dinner today.

She also said that when the family attends Calvary Baptist church in Roseville Sunday, as usual, “We will give thanks to God that we have so many reasons for a real Thanksgiving.”

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Create a free account at GenealogyBank for 7 days to start your journey and discover the stories your ancestors left behind.

Note on the header image: Happy Thanksgiving display. Photo credit: https://depositphotos.com/home.html