Complex sentence: Hargis was adopted by a railroad employee, Billy James Hargis, Sr., and his wife; by the time the boy was ten, his adoptive mother was in poor health and close to death.
Split into simpler sentences: Hargis was adopted by a railroad employee, Billy James Hargis, Sr., and his wife. By the time the boy was ten, his adoptive mother was in poor health and close to death.