Serving Northeast Indiana since 1977
Still looking for assistance, maybe we can still help
Jama D.L. Smith
Fundraising Events
Jama is still a professional benefit event consultant and benefit auctioneer with dates filling up for 2025. Click here to begin a conversation.
Real Estate
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Greg Littlejohn
Personal Property Specialist, Master Appraiser, AuctioneerCES, MPPA
Greg has opened the doors on Littlejohn Appraisals and has remained just as busy with estate work. He's ready to help you with your estate or legal appraisal needs.
Need an appraisal? Click here to contact Greg today!
Our Story
After 47 years and over 5000 auctions, a staple family owned business in the downtown Auburn community is putting its gavel on the shelf and retiring from the auction business.
Littlejohn Auctions opened in 1977 as the dream of a little Butler boy, Jim Littlejohn. Growing up in rural Indiana in the 1940s, he enjoyed the chant and the charisma of the auctioneers of that day. During his high school FFA years he would conduct fun auctions with his friends. The seeds of a career were planted. In 1977 while working at Dana, he opened Littlejohn Auctions which would eventually find its home on 9th Street after an early retirement from Eaton. Jim later served as board member for both the Indiana and National Auctioneer Associations. Jim was inducted into the Indiana Auctioneer Hall of Fame in 2009.
Greg Littlejohn, having grown up working “from the wagon” at farm sales, became a professional auctioneer in 1983 and later a Master Appraiser. As a young person, he became a crew leader and spent most Saturdays waking up very early and leading his team as they emptied houses, businesses, and barns putting everything in tidy rows on the lawns and in the fields. He organized parking in fields and learned early lessons about traffic flow and crowd safety. This is how farm, personal property, and real estate auctions were constructed and how many of us still think of “auctions”. Greg later served as president of Indiana’s District 2, part of the Indiana Auctioneer Association.
Jama Smith, current owner of Littlejohn Auctions, also grew up at the auctions on Saturdays. She “ran tickets” (in 1977 she was 7 years old) and later clerked and worked in the auction office. In 1999 she also became a professional auctioneer and later became a Benefit Auction Specialist through the National Auctioneer Association. Jama also served as a board member for the Indiana Auctioneer Association and DeKalb Chamber Partnership, and president of both the Downtown Auburn Business Association and Auburn Main Street.
As technology and markets changed, Littlejohn Auctions kept up and instigated new solutions to old estate challenges. Throughout the years, most Littlejohn children, spouses, and grandchildren have worked for the company. “That constant access to our younger generation has made adapting to new technologies easier throughout the years,” states owner, Jama Smith.
Outdoor estate auctions and real estate auctions at Littlejohn’s were completely computerized in the early 1990s. Buyers could enjoy cashless purchases for the first time. By the 2010s, most Littlejohn auctions had moved to “the world wide web” (as the internet was labeled at that time) and estate items, vehicles, and real property were available for the first time to the entire world. These changes soon necessitated a new shipping department, professional listing teams, and a new marketing department to constantly analyze and change marketing practices with new speed and creativity. Currently, all auctions are transcribed by the youngest Smith child who is a college senior at Stanford University in California.
While Jim’s aggressive real estate department grew, Greg’s appraisal department also grew in size and reputation becoming a top-respected choice in Northeast Indiana among families, attorneys, and the court system.
Throughout the 2010s Jama’s benefit event department grew in popularity as well raising millions for Indiana organizations.
In tandem all departments worked together to help northeast Indiana families work through estates and major life changes in new modern ways utilizing progressive technologies with the traditional auction method.
Littlejohn Auctions has been an active leadership presence and financial supporter of our local small business community, youth organizations, and non-profit community. From the Downtown Auburn Business Association and Auburn Main Street to youth sports the Littlejohn team has given time. From multiple church fundraisers to the local Firefighters Ball, Littlejohn Auctions has felt the responsibility of their service to our community.
After 5000 auctions, this family is retiring from the auction business, but will not disappear from our local business and art community. Jim Littlejohn plans to dig deeper into his love of painting and travel. He is one of our 2024 Artists for the Annual DABA Art Exhibit. Greg Littlejohn will continue his appraisal business while also seeking local employment with more predictable hours than the auction business. Jama Smith will continue the benefit event business while recording voiceovers, her podcast, and audiobooks from her home studio.