Extensive research shows that these are previously unpublished photographs are definitely rare.  These frames and photos are original to the civil war time period.  It also reveals that the woman is that of Lucinda Allen Young (1824-1920), wife of Joseph Young (1787-1881) who was the brother of Brigham Young (d 1877), founder the LDS Church of Latter Day Saints aka Mormons.  In Lucinda's obit, she arrived in Salt Lake in 1848.  She shows up the Rochester city directory, NY between 1884 - 1888 after Joseph died, then on to Oregon to live with her son, returning to Salt Lake in 1917.  The last photo in this listing shows the photo from Lucinda's Obituary.

Our researched guess is that these photos were Wet Plate Collodion in terms of process given Washington Lafayette Germon’s documented higher end approach to photography.  Research Background: Nineteenth century photography was at the junction of art and science, invention and commerce. It was not uncommon in the early days of photography for practitioners to make their own cameras, or reconfigure manufactured ones to suit their needs. Until the advent of the gelatin silver print, most photographers prepared their own papers and plates, using a variety of solutions, depending on the process and effects desired. According to John Coates Browne, writing in 1884 in the History of the Photographic Society of Philadelphia, "To make pictures at that time required hard work, and the chemicals used were not conducive to clean hands or linen" (Brey). The Photographic Society of Philadelphia provided a dynamic forum for both amateur and professional photographers to meet and exchange ideas, making Philadelphia an early center of innovation in this nascent field.  Many astute collectors know that Germon produced vignette crayon portraits with a creamy white background that rivaled masters in artistry and technical ability and were used to produce daguerreian art. The back labeling on these frames gives clues to the process type.  It is claiming to be a higher end photographer.  It is downplaying ivorytypes as inferior to the process used.  Ivorytypes were patented in 1850s  Daguerreotypes were introduced in 1837.  Wet Plate Collodion was a contemporary process to Ivorytypes.  My educated guess is that these photos were Collodion (and confirmed by one kind ebayer who stated that these are albumen prints, which use a collodion process).