Complex sentence: The "San Francisco News-Letter and Advertiser" then embellished the story by saying that she "claimed to be a mason", having cajoled the younger members of her uncle's lodge into clandestinely conferring the three Blue Lodge degrees on her.
Split into simpler sentences: The "San Francisco News-Letter and Advertiser" then embellished the story. She now "claimed to be a mason", having cajoled the younger members of her uncle's lodge into clandestinely conferring the three Blue Lodge degrees on her.