No more Mr. Nice Guy. Here's the information as listed
Historical note:
The American Brass Band (ABB) is the oldest continuously running civilian concert band in the United States. An early form of the band was organized in 1825 by bugle player Joseph C. Greene; it was known then as the Providence Martial Team. In November 1837, the band became formally organized into the American Band and Orchestra of Providence, RI (aka the American Brass Band). There were 14 men in the band at this time; one of them was Benjamin P. Robinson, a fife and cymbal player who hosted the charter meeting in his father's counting room basement. The ABB was an all-brass band whose repertoire included classical music, marches, and popular standards. It steadily grew in renown as a concert and marching band throughout New England.
Greene temporarily left the ABB in 1839 to take on leadership of the Boston Brass Band; the band was conducted by Benjamin G. West until Greene's return in 1841. In 1853, the band became incorporated into a military band in the Second Brigade of the RI Militia. On April 17, 1861, the ABB volunteered to serve in the Civil War with the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia. Its three month service involved carrying wounded soldiers off the battlefields in stretchers. The band saw action at the Battle of Bull Run, VA on July 21, 1861 before its service ended. After the Civil War, the band was designated the official band of New England and marched in multiple presidential inaugurations.
The ABB's popularity skyrocketed after David Wallis Reeves, a renowned cornetist and "famous writer of military marches," assumed leadership in 1866. Reeves added a woodwinds section to the formerly all-brass band and lead it on several national tours. He also discovered Bowen R. Church and trained him to be a nationally-known cornet virtuoso. Reeves's personal celebrity grew as he composed over 100 marches that included the famous "Second Regiment C.N.G." march. Eventually, the ABB came to be known (especially in the Boston area) as Reeves' American Band and Orchestra or Reeves' Band. This name helped distinguish it from the growing number of "American" bands that were based throughout New England.
Two major milestones in the band's history took place in 1887. One was the fiftieth anniversary concert in which the surviving original band members (including Joseph Greene) came out of retirement to play with the current roster of musicians. The other was the formation of the American Brass Band Veterans Association on November 26, 1887. The first set of officers of this association included Samuel D. Sprink as President and William E. Whiting as Secretary. In October of 1892, D.W. Reeves accepted the directorship of Gilmore's 22nd Regiment Band of New York. He returned to the ABB after one year and remained as conductor until his death in 1900.
At this point Bowen R. Church, the assistant conductor, took over as the band's general director like he had done in 1892. But it was not long before Church resumed his former position as assistant conductor. He was succeeded as leader first by Herbert L. Clarke, then Edward M. Fay. Fay's decision to rename the band Fay's American Band (circa 1906) was a source of much controversy amongst past and present members. By now, the band's popularity and artistic integrity were starting to decline from what it had been during the Reeves period, although it continued to tour successfully on a national level. It was around this time that Robinson, the last of the band's charter members, passed away at age 96.
Warren Fales, town councilman of East Providence and financial backer of the ABB, soon replaced Fay as general director. Although he was not a musician, Fales helped the ABB regain some of its former prestige and formed a tradition where each concert began with one of D.W. Reeves's marches. The band leaders that came after Fales were Joseph Lemaire, Frank Wollenberg and Alfred Archambault. In 1978, ABB underwent a complete reorganization under a new music director: Dr. Francis M. Marciniak, Director of Bands at Rhode Island College. Dr. Gene Pollart took over as director in 1996.
Bibliography
History of the American Band. Viewed June 24, 2005.
http://www.ric.edu/am_band/history.htm
"GREETINGS & SALUTATIONS!" I have a brass button for a military school with the initials A.B.B. and Instituted with the date 1837, but do not know what school or where it was or if it is still in existence or not? Looking forward to solving the riddle of this button, thank you! Respectfully yours, Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California. 
Sarge Booker of Tujunga, California
