Conrad Alba was the half-brother of William Alba. Conrad was born 15 June 1849 in Grossen Bussek, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany,1 to barber Daniel Alba (1807-1857), and his second wife, Margretta Doring. 2
Conrad Alba emigrated to St. Louis with his mother at the age of eight, after the death of his father.3 He arrived in Cairo in 1862 (aged about thirteen) and worked as a barber under his brother, William Alba, until opening his own shop on Eighth street.4 Perrin attests that Alba was a Mason and an Odd Fellow (corroborated by the two symbols on his monument), and, while not overly political, was generally a Republican. He was still living at the time of the 1883 History.
Conrad Alba's obituary, published in the Cairo Evening Citizen and Bulletin, indicates that he died at St. Mary's Infirmary, 5 July 1929, as one of Cairo's "oldest and most highly respected citizens". In 1896 he entered the insurance business. He built several buildings arround his place of business, Commercial Avenue and Eighteenth Street, known as the "Alba Block"; he also organized the Delta Building and Loan Association.5
Barbara Neff Alba, wife of Conrad, died of influenza on 3 May 1929, a few months before her husband, after having been confined to her bed for three months. She was born 4 July 1850 in Germany, coming to America at the age of thirteen, living in Cairo for sixty-five years. Conrad Alba and Barbara Neff were married 22 September 1884. 6
