Complex sentence: She was born as Frances Harriet Whipple on a farm in Smithfield, Rhode Island she descended from two of the state's oldest, most distinguished families, but after her father's serious financial reversal she had to earn her own living at a very early age.
Split into simpler sentences: She was born as Frances Harriet Whipple on a farm in Smithfield, Rhode Island. She descended from two of the state's oldest, most distinguished families, but after her father's serious financial reversal she had to earn her own living at a very early age.