Complex sentence: He received his BA and AM degrees from Columbia College in 1875 and 1879 and had studied for the ministry before choosing instead to teach and eventually serve as vice-principal at the Lockwood Academy in Brooklyn and later teach for some semesters at the Columbia Grammar School in Manhattan.
Split into simpler sentences: He received his BA and AM degrees from Columbia College in 1875 and 1879. He had studied for the ministry before choosing instead to teach and eventually serve as vice-principal at the Lockwood Academy in Brooklyn and later teach for some semesters at the Columbia Grammar School in Manhattan.