Travis was born in Maldon, Australia. He arrived in New York City in 1886 as a 23-year-old representative of the Australian-based McLean Brothers and Rigg exporters of hardware and construction products. Travis married Anne Bent of Middleton, Connecticut, on January 9, 1890, and later that year, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Shortly after their wedding, Travis and his wife moved into their new home in Flushing, New York, where they would live until their move to Garden City, on Long Island, in 1900.