When I couldn't bring the J.C. Devine Auction website up on my computer I did a little digging and found the story below about Joe Devine's death and the seizure of the auction company by the state so I thought I'd pass it along ... I only talked to Joe a few times and always found him to be a real gentleman and an easy man to do business with ... My deepest sympathies goes out to his family and friends.
Jim Kucaba ... AriZOOna Cactus Patch ... Email:
JimKucaba@aol.com
J.C. Devine Auction House Seized by State
Thursday, May 27, 2010
By DAVID BROOKS
Staff Writer
MILFORD – The closing of one of the region’s oldest auction house following the February death of its founder, Joe Devine, has left confusion about $145,000 collected at a consignment auction in March but apparently not paid to owners of the items, leading the state to seize the business and seek restitution.
“For all intents and purposes, (Devine) was the company and the company was him,” said James Boffetti, a senior assistant attorney general who is chief of the New Hampshire Consumer Protection Bureau. “The finances were intertwined and there is confusion.”
The bureau filed an injunction Monday in Hillsborough County Superior Court, asking for restitution. It also seized the 20 South Street building owned by Devine, which holds the second-floor offices of J.C. Devine Inc., located atop Amigos restaurant.
The company’s phone number and Web site are not working, and a notice on the door leading to the office just off the Oval says the firm has “suspended operations due to the passing of our president and CEO Joseph Devine” and tells people to write to P.O. Box 143, Milford, for more information. “We are doing our best to address all concerns in a timely manner,” the notice says.
Boffetti said the bureau moved after getting “about 15 complaints” from people who allegedly were not paid for their items sold at an auction held three weeks after Devine’s death.
Devine, 72, died Feb. 24 in Sebastian, Fla., where he had wintered for many years. Born in Nashua, he was a graduate of Wilton High School and lived in Milford for more than 35 years.
J.C. Devine Inc. specialized in auction sales of firearms and related material for 35 years, with Devine and employees scouring the country for everything from a maharajah’s rifle to “tommy guns” to uniforms and ammunition. Devine often called it the oldest specialty auction house in the country.
“He was a big, big player in the industry. He helped New Hampshire set up a high standard, create a vibrant auction industry,” said Bob Eaton, founder of R&R Auction in Amherst. “I moved here from Massachusetts about 25 years ago, and one of the reasons was all these great auctioneers in the state, like Joe Devine.”
The company continued operations after Devine’s death, and a March 7 auction was held at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, where the company had held auctions for some time. A May 9 auction at the same location was cancelled,
The Bedford law firm Ansell & Anderson is handling at least part of the issue, It issued this statement: “As a result of the recent death of Joseph Devine, the business of J.C. Devine Inc. has been suspended. All interested parties will be contacted by a representative of the business when appropriate.” A representative declined to comment further Monday.
The situation is also being examined into by the state Board of Auctioneers, part of the Secretary of State’s office, which handles licenses for auctioneers.
“We’ve had some people calling and are looking into the situation,” said Kaley Dion, secretary to the board. “We have to find out what did happen, and then find out what is going to happen.”
Devine had auctioned firearms and related items such as ammunition for much of his adult life. His late wife, Anne, was the first woman appointed to the state Board of Auctioneers. His son Jason owns a similar firm, Amoskeag Auctions, in Manchester.
Devine and employees traveled throughout the country, buying items or, more often, taking them on consignment to sell through auction. Generally, it printed a catalogue of items for each sale and then took bids from the floor or over telephone or, more recently, via the Internet.
Over the years, Devine has handled sales of everything from modern weapons, ammunition and equipment to a pistol owned by John Wilkes Booth, to a barn door pockmarked by Civil War bullets, and powder horns from the French and Indian War, one of which sat on his desk in his Milford office.
Despite its presence a block from the Oval, the company had a relatively low profile in Milford, partly because its auctions were never held here. Usually they were held at convention rooms in hotels, first in Bedford and more recently in Nashua.
The company received some unwelcome publicity in 2005 when The Telegraph reported that a J.C. Devine catalog of Civil War items, being sold by a private collector, listed miscellaneous items “from Gravesite at Haxall’s Landing, VA” that appeared to include some bones, including an apparent human jawbone with teeth. No bones were offered at auction and Devine said the listing had been an error.
David Brooks can be reached at
dbrooks@nashuatelegraph.com or 594-5831.
Joe Devine Passed Away
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