Cowman Auction is family owned and works hard to get results for you. We’ve been in business for 3 generations, and this history has given us the expertise to know what it takes to implement a successful event.
Left and center photos are from 1962 when our grandparents sold the Petefish estate, which is now The Rail Golf Course in Sherman, IL. Right photo is of Rosemary Sapp, seated in front of her old-fashioned number box from February 1978 when we sold the St. Nicholas Hotel in Springfield, IL. Top header photo is of Ralph Cowman’s farm equipment sale in Alexander, IL.
We learned the auction business from the ground up, starting at a very young age. As our grandparents built their auction reputation, they quickly realized their greatest asset wasn’t just their equipment or inventory—it was their family. Their children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren all played a role, working together nearly every weekend.
The adults handled the core responsibilities: setting up the sale, registering bidders, holding up items, catching bids, clerking, and delivering the familiar auction chant. Meanwhile, the grandchildren stayed busy with equally important tasks—picking up trash, serving sandwiches and sodas, delivering completed clerking sheets to the mobile office, lining up equipment, starting trucks and tractors so the crowd could hear them run, driving the auction truck, and helping customers load their newly purchased treasures after the sale.
It truly operated like a well-oiled machine. Everyone had a job and was expected to do it without being told. That strong work ethic and sense of teamwork became the foundation of our business.
Although the auction profession has changed over the years, especially with advances in technology, our commitment to serving customers remains the same. As time passed, the children and grandchildren grew into new roles—becoming consultants, auctioneers, ring men, and clerks capable of managing their own auctions from start to finish.
Live auctions have long served as community gatherings, bringing friends and neighbors together from across the region. Today, that tradition continues with the addition of online bidders.
As our father and grandfather always said, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. We were fortunate to have the very best examples in our parents and grandparents, and we’re proud to carry their legacy forward while continuing to take the business to the next level.
GALLERY
