Batise, the first name that Hine gave him, showed up in the census a few times, mostly accompanied by French-looking surnames, none in Winchendon. But there were 15 Josephs in Winchendon in the 1910 census, among five households, all of them listed as natives of Syria (actually Lebanon). One was a large family with a boy listed as Batrie Joseph, born in 1899, which would have made him the right age. His parents were Nagner and Conote Joseph. In the 1920 census, I found what was obviously the same family, but in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, which is about 20 miles from Winchendon. This time, the parents' names were spelled Nashner and Bount (later confirmed as Nashim and Bonout), but most of the children had the same names as in 1910, except for the boy born in 1899. This time, he was listed as Elsie.

It was on my second visit that I met Catherine, the proprietor of Winchendon's legendary Joseph's Store, a small variety store which looks like it could have been there when Lewis Hine snuck into town with his camera and notebook more than 97 years ago. It was there, in fact, though not quite in the same spot. Catherine, who has become my best source for Winchendon history, said she was related to this Joseph family, but she didn't remember anyone named Batise. She thought he looked like either Herbert or Louis Joseph, but when I later found their death records, I ruled them out because they would have been either too old or too young. But Catherine also indentified the unnamed sister as Julia, which would prove to be correct.