About Us

Born  of ingenuity, built by industry and maintained through integrity this is a capsule history of Dunning’s Auction Service, Inc. In 1896, Frank Dunning held farm and livestock auctions.  His brothers, William and Charles, were also in the cattle business in West Dundee.  Their prominence inspired the town to name a street, “Dunning Avenue”.

Frank’s nephew, Albert, joined the business in 1920 after his tour in World War I.  Farm Auctions, along with some real estate auctions, continued to be the bread and butter of the auction business for Dunning’s, mostly in Kane and McHenry counties. 

In 1935, Albert married Laura and they relocated to Rockford to expand the auction and cattle business.  She was not only his partner in marriage, but in business, as she took over the bookkeeping, clerking and advertising responsibilities.  The Dunning’s returned to Elgin in 1942 adding household and estate auctions to their repertoire.  Auctions were held on site and at the facility on Dundee Avenue until 1969 and then on Olive Street for a short time.

In 1957 after attending Northwestern, 3rd generation, Terry joined the family business on a full time basis.  His wife, Pat took over the bookkeeping responsibilities in the 70’s, along with raising five children.  1970  brought a Chicago gallery on Michigan Avenue for a year and a half at which point the growing interest in the auction business warranted a gallery in Elgin which was moved into in 1978. 

The 80’s and 90’s brought a great deal of growth.  Another Chicago office was opened, a southern California was opened to service the growing real estate market in the west.  4 of the Dunning’s 5 children of the fourth generation joined the auction business on a full time basis.  These family members along with Bill Milne and thirty other valuable team members built up a top ten national auction tradition started a century ago.

In 1998, Butterfield’s expanded into the Midwest by merging with Dunning’s.  The Elgin gallery was moved to the vibrant River North art gallery district and was called Butterfield, Butterfield & Dunning, making it the world’s fourth largest auction firm of fine and decorative arts, antiques and collectibles.  The newly merged company then became a subsidiary of Ebay in 1999.

The tradition of auctioning continues as Terry Dunning conducts over 250 appraisals annually and can still be fond at the podium.  Son, Scott Bowers opened a commercial and real estate auction company, Auction Consultants, Inc.  Daughter, Shawn Dunning continued with on site auctions, charity auctions and selling personal property on line.