William Alfred Paine (January 29, 1855, Amesbury, Massachusetts - September 24, 1929) was an American businessman who co-founded the stock brokerage firm, Paine Webber. He began his career in finance in 1873 as a clerk at a bank in Boston. In 1880, with a loan from his father, he partnered with Wallace G. Webber to create the brokerage firm, Paine, Webber and Co. They became members of both the Boston and New York Stock Exchanges. In 1887, William Paine married Ruth Felton Ward with whom he had two sons and three daughters. In 1899 he partnered with John Stanton. Mr. Stanton was already well known in the Copper Country with his interest in the Stanton-Gay group which had controlling interest in the Atlantic, Central and Allouez mines. The Paine-Stanton group was formed in 1899 to develop the land between Ontonagon and Houghton. This group was incorporated as the Copper Range Railroad and the Copper Range Consolidated Company, with William Paine as President and John Stanton on the board. In 1901 this corporation controlled the Baltic and Trimountain mines, the Copper Range Railroad, 50% of the Champion mine and 60% of Michigan Smelting Company. Mr. Paine played a key role in the development of the paternalistic communities of the South Range. He personally saw to the creation of hospitals, schools, stores, entertainment, land for churches, and libraries. Most noted was the Sarah Sargent Paine Library, named after William's mother, located in Painesdale. The town of Painesdale, Michigan was named for him and Freda, Michigan is named for his daughter.