As a young man, William T. attended school and then when he was old enough, began working as a clerk for Shute & Merchant. During his young adult life he met Marion "Mattie" Bruce Rust and they were married in Gloucester on October 2, 1884. As their wedding gift, James L. Shute had a house built at 9 Bellevue Avenue in Gloucester, and it was here that William and Mattie raised their family of five: Kenneth Bruce, Margaret Grover, George Haase, James Lovell, III and Benjamin Smith (named for his father's good friend). Marion and the children continued to reside in that home until all of them were grown and married.

Shute & Merchant suffered through some difficult times while William T. and his father were partners, yet the company was able to recover from its debts of the late 1890's and continue on successfully. It was in 1906 that a group of four other fish companies banded together to form Gorton-Pew Fisheries. Among them was the David B. Smith fish company owned by the father of William T.'s good friend Benjamin A. Smith. As part of the way to introduce a new line of products, it may very well have been William who chose to use a series of advertising postcards depicting scenes of Gloucester to spread the word to the various stores and consumers who purchased Shute & Merchant products in 1906. Around this same time, many businesses were dealing with a variety of financial concerns and it seems likely that by the following year William T. decided it would be beneficial to join the larger Gorton-Pew Fisheries. In 1907 an agreement was reached and Shute & Merchant ceased to exist as it was absorbed by the larger firm. William continued working as part of Gorton-Pew by overseeing the business activities still taking place in the former Shute & Merchant buildings and by serving as the President of the Merchant Box Company. He continued in those positions until his death in 1920.