I found the following obituary for Asa Brown in The New England Historical and Genealogical Register.1
According to his death certificate, the cause of death was senility and inanition, bronchitis, and rheumatism as a contributory factor: 2
Mosby’s Medical Dictionary defines “inanition” as follows:3
Rest in peace, Cousin Asa!
1 William Richard Cutter, A.M., “Memoirs of the New England Historical and Genealogical Record,” The New England Historical and Genealogical Register LXII (January 1, 1909): xlix-xlx.
2“Massachusetts Deaths, 1841-1915,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-DYC2-GD?cc=1463156&wc=MJCP-168%3A1043026501 : 20 May 2014), > image 2122 of 2139; State Archives, Boston.
3inanition. (n.d.) Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. (2009). Retrieved February 26 2017 from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/inanition
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