[5] Leading up to and during World War II, he volunteered for service with the Red Cross in Ramsay and Plymouth, England.

He was the owner of Land O'Goshen Farms,[7] where he bred and raised sheep and American saddlebred horses, and he was the president of F.C.

[12] She was the daughter of Yale chemistry professor Benjamin Silliman, Jr. and Susan Huldah Forbes and granddaughter of Benjamin Silliman and Harriett Trumbull, a descendant of Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.[13] In addition to their son, William Burke Belknap's parents had four daughters.

She lived at Land O'Goshen farm with William Burke Belknap until his death and died March 24, 1983, in Oldham, Kentucky.

[18] When Punch stopped publication in 2002, The Yale Record became the oldest humor magazine in the world.

William Burke Belknap was one of the "Old Owls," an honorary title given to former editors and board members of The Yale Record.

[23] In 1993 the landmark building of his family's former Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company was imploded and filmed as promotional advertising for the movie Demolition Man.

At least three newspaper photos of William Burke Belknap, including one on horseback at Land O' Goshen, are available at various locations and are probably in the common domain.