[1] His great-grandfather William Rasin, an assemblyman, came to America, married Sarah Freeman and settled in Kent County in the 1730s.

[1][8] In 1870, Rasin met Arthur Pue Gorman and formed what would be known as the Gorman–Rasin organization, a political machine in Baltimore in the 1870s and 1880s.

These men included: Gorman, Rasin, Jesse K. Hines, Levin Woolford, Michael Bannon, George Colton and John W. Davis.

Other members of the political organization included John J. Mahon, Thomas G. Hayes, Robert M. McLane, Frederick Raine, William Pinkney Whyte, James B. Groome and Edwin Warfield.

[7][6] On election day, the organization would use "walking-around money" to ensure local Democrats "got out the white vote, rewarded the faithful, and made trouble for the rest".

Mayor Ferdinand C. Latrobe described Rasin's machine as "unavoidable and perhaps helped make democracy work".

Rasin and Gorman ran a political machine where they handled matters in a personal way and "stayed in touch with workingmen and clubmen alike".

They had six children: John Freeman, Gertrude Browne, Julia Angela, Helen Ringgold, Carroll Wilson and Alice Regina.