Many members of the Black community in Springfield were heavily involved in the activities of the Underground Railroad (UGRR), including the Piles and Durgans families.

Robert Piles was a barber and a well-known resident of Springfield, Ohio. One of the first members of the UGRR, he was active in the community. One of his sons, James H. (born 1839) graduated from Oberlin College and returned to Springfield to practice law, being one of the earliest Black men to be admitted to the Clark County Bar. James became politically active at both the state and national levels. As a boy, James and his brother, Joseph, both assisted in their father's barbering business. Robert J. Piles is interred in section B of Ferncliff Cemetery.

George Durgans was also a local activist in the Underground Railroad. He came to Springfield from Kentucky at the end of the Civil War and was remembered as being "dignified in demeanor" and "having a very wide acquaintance among traveling men." George Durgans is buried in Section F of Ferncliff Cemetery.