Samuel D. Burris, a free African-American conductor on the Underground Railroad, lived in the Willow Grove area during the 1840s and helped enslaved people find their pathway to freedom in Philadelphia. In 1847 he was caught for aiding and abetting runaway slaves, tried and convicted in the Kent County Court of General Sessions, imprisoned in accordance with the law, and sold into servitude. Purchased with abolitionist funds, he was taken to Philadelphia. His family moved to San Francisco shortly after California was admitted as a free state. He continued to help others gain their freedom by raising funds for the cause until his death in 1863.