Daily AncestorDecline
Decline in old records meant a gradual failing of health over a long time, without a named disease being given.
A person said to be in a decline, or to have died of a decline, had weakened and wasted slowly. The word itself only describes worsening health.
Any slow illness could lie behind it, and wasting lung disease was a common one in that era, but the record does not prove it. Look for the length of illness and other family deaths for clues.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Lydia Hart, 22, F, W, Single, Conn., April, Decline, 300 days
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Decline." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/decline. Last checked 2026-10-01.