John Coleman purchased three lots at 115, 117, and 119 East Mill in 1834, and the present building at 115 was built before the Civil War. In 1862 he sold the property to William Hursey, who later sold it to Paul C. Brey, a German native born near Ulm who came to America in 1849 with his father, attended one session at public school in Williamsburg, New York, moved to St. Louis in 1852, worked in a wholesale book and stationary house there until 1857, then settled in Monroe County, became postmaster in Burksville, married Sophia, daughter of Alexander Dufree, in 1860, was elected justice of the peace in 1863, and was elected county clerk in 1873 and re-elected three times. In 1925 Brey's heirs sold the building to Leo W. Sendelbeck's Electric, including a shed behind 117, and Doctor Cox, a noted physician, rented space there for a short time. Jack Strellis bought 115 East Mill Street in 1983 from Leo Sendelbeck Jr., Clarence Sendelbeck, and Dorothy M. Reh, children of Leo Sendelbeck Sr., and in 1984 Strellis and Otto Faulbaum renovated the entire space in keeping with federal historic preservation directives, adding the present conference room and two-story office space to the rear of 115; the work was completed by January 1985, and 115 became the only building in Monroe County to benefit from historic preservation tax credits. In 1990 Strellis purchased 117 from William and Nancy Nobbe, and renovations begun in 2011 and completed in the summer of 2012 joined the two buildings into one with offices and a great room known as the war room for trial preparation and planning in U.S. and state courts. The Nobbes had previously operated 117 as an apartment building, and before them Margaret Mueth, a spinster who worked at the knitting mill, owned 117 from 1918 through 1966, living on the first floor and renting the second floor as apartments. Building 117 was erected in the late 1840s or early 1850s, and stories have long held that it was once either a brothel with rear access from the saloon and hotel next door at 199 East Mill Street, the Berger Building, or a women's seminary and finishing school. An archway in the middle of 117's facade served as a coach entrance, and remodeling showed that 117 was the first building constructed, with both neighboring buildings attached later; exposed brickwork and chopped-in beam pockets indicate that 115 was added to the west side of 117 shortly after 117 was built. At an earlier time, the three buildings had connected passages, though their use is not completely known.