Five photographs. What can I find out about the people?

The first has no studio mark. On the back in pen are six lines of text:

Dec. 31st 1888.

Age 25 yrs., 6 mos., 14 days.

Height 5 ft. 11 1/2 in.

Weight 152 lbs.

Alva Cole.

Alva Cole.

I used a tombstone calculator to determine what his birthdate was- it came out to 17 June 1863. Then I search Public Member Trees on Ancestry.com and the very first entry for an Alva Cole was an individual born on 17 June 1863 in Fairfield, Ohio, the son of Thomas Cole and Mary Jane Courtright. He was married in 1901 to Laura Belle Koontz. He died on 10 March 1942 in St. Louisville, Licking County, Ohio. He was buried in the Evans Cemetery in Saint Louisville.

Alva Cole, 1863-1942.

The second photograph is from the Frank Walz studio of Cawker City, Kansas. Cawker City is in Mitchell County, Kansas. On the back in pen is "For Andrew Walton." Crossed out, is blue ink, is "Dads Mother." Below that in pencil is "Aunt Betsy." Below that in blue ink, crossed out, is "Lucinda Walton, Andrew Walton's mother."

I could not find a Betsey Walton in the census records for Mitchell County. In the Public Member Trees however I found Betsey Olive Walton, born 23 August 1817 in Batavia, Genesee County, New York. She was married to Hector Almon Higley,. Sr. She died on 12 January 1903 in Cawker City and was buried in Woodland Cemetery in Iowa Center, Story County, Iowa.

Betsey Olive (Walton) Higley.

The third photograph is from the Andrew Horne studio of Plainville, Kansas. Plainville is in Rooks County, Kansas. Written in pencil on the front was "Hannah Shores" and "Aunt Maria's daughter."  On the back in pencil was written "This is for Frank" and "Hannah & Dessie, Silvanus's oldest child."

This was a little difficult. So I searched for a Hannah with a mother named Maria and a spouse named Shores. Only one person showed up, Hannah Carrie Porter, born on 8 December 1869 in Sinking Spring, Highland County, Ohio. She was married to William E. Shores. She died in 1944 in Burr Oak, Jewell County, Kansas. She is buried in Burr Oak Cemetery. As it turned out, a different version of the photograph appeared on one of the family trees, as well as several other photos of the same woman. Hannah was the mother of two children- Harold and Belva. It is unclear which child is in the photo.

Hannah Carrie (Porter) Shores.

The next photo was taken by the Johnson Bros studios of Cazenovia and Watertown, New York. Cazenovia is in Madison County while Watertown is in Jefferson County. On the back in ink is "Jessie E. Martin, Cazenovia Seminary, Class '85."

Cazenovia Seminary opened as the Genesee Seminary in 1824 (today it is the Cazenovia College). I have sent an email to the campus archivist asking if they were interested in obtaining it.

Jessie E. Martin.

The fifth photograph was taken by the Fowzer Artist Photographer of 337 Hayes Street, Between Franklin & Hough, S.F. Jacob Fowzer (1848-1920) was a photographer and artist who lived in San Francisco, California. On the back of the photo in ink is "May Bennett[,] Marshfield Or, Age 4 years." Marshfield is in Coos County, Oregon (today the town is called Coos Bay).

There are Bennett families who lived in Coos County. I have not been able to identify May as being a member of one of them.

May Bennett.