William Worth Sisson was born on October 15, 1849 to Benjamin Franklin Sisson and Maritta York Sisson in Binghamton, N.Y. His father, B. F. Sisson, owned a dry goods store that eventually became the Sisson Bros.-Weldon Co. department store on Court Street near the Chenango Canal. William grew up in the Binghamton area and was educated at Binghamton Academy and High School. He worked as a clerk in his father's store, and eventually was made partner of the company.

Sisson also became a member of his father's firm in 1870, upon which the name of the firm was changed from "B.F. Sisson & Son" to "B.F. Sisson & Sons." He was later appointed treasurer of the Binghamton Fire Department on April 1, 1898, and also served as director of the City National Bank in Binghamton.

Sisson married Ida Bronson of Cleveland, Ohio on March 7, 1878, with whom he had a daughter, Eva Sisson. Trinity Memorial Episcopal Church in Binghamton contains a stained glass window that William Sisson had commissioned and dedicated to the memory of his daughter, who died in 1929. Sisson died in Binghamton on May 15, 1937.