Complex sentence: Born in a house on the northeast corner of Third and Shipley Streets in Wilmington, Ferris moved to Philadelphia at age 14, where he learned the watchmaking business, before returning to Wilmington in 1813, where he was appointed city surveyor in 1820.
Split into simpler sentences: Born in a house on the northeast corner of Third and Shipley Streets in Wilmington, Ferris moved to Philadelphia at age 14, where he learned the watchmaking business. They returned to live in Wilmington in 1813, where he was appointed city surveyor in 1820.