1866 Baseball Cards

[Kudbegud]

These belonged to my grandfather. The Wapellos, of Rock Island Illinois, were named after a local Indian Chief. Quite the hitting team, they once beat a rival, Union, 118 to 7 on August 25, 1866. Remember, no gloves in those days, so catching a fly ball could be painful. I was once told that these a better described as cabinet cards. I was also told the technical definition of a baseball card includes the players name or more being part of the manufacturing process. On these, the players name is hand written on the back along with his position. A couple have descriptions like "fast" and "very fast". One has a 2¢ US Bank Check stamp canceled in 1867. I would like to learn more about this and your opinions.
I have had these since the early 60's after my grandfather passed away. There are 13 cards. Overall card dimensions are 2 7/16 x 3 15/16 and the photo 2 3/16 x 3 7/16, which fits right in to D. Bergin's suggestion and the Wikipedia link from scooter729. They were sealed air tight in Seal-A-Meal plastic bags in the mid 70's and have remained so ever since. I photographed them this past week through the plastic so you may see some artifacts from that. The photos and an article from the April 12, 1943 Rock Island Argus newspaper about the team and the cards has been posted in my Photobucket album. Here's a link to that page: http://s1236.photobucket.com/albums/...eball%20Cards/
My plan is to donate these to the Rock Island Historical Society. I think they would be a nice addition to the museum and be more accessible to be enjoyed by more people. I'd be very interested to hear what you think, what ever you can tell me and your evaluation of these cards. What value would you place on them so I can describe them fully to the Historical Society?
A sample: