The Supreme Council, Scottish Rite, Northern Jurisdiction oversees the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry in fifteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Vermont.
Formed in 1813, the Northern Jurisdiction is divided into "Valleys." Each Valley has up to four subordinate bodies, and each body confers a set of degrees. The four subordinate bodies are the Lodge of Perfection, which confers degrees 4 through 14, the Council of Princes of Jerusalem, which confers degrees 15 and 16, the Chapter of Rose Croix which confers the 17° and 18° and the consistory which confers degree from 19 to 32.
History
Most of the thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite existed in parts of previous degree systems. In 1767, the Ineffable Lodge of Perfection had been chartered in Albany, NY, and awarded up to the 25th Degree. Similar bodies were formed in Philadelphia and Charleston awarding degrees up to the 25th, but all had died out by 1800.The Scottish Rite in the United States, and the awarding of degrees up to the 33rd, formally came into being with the creation of the Mother Supreme Council at Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1801.
In 1806, a member of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction named Antoine Bideaud traveled to New York City and conferred the 30, 31, and 32 degrees upon John Joseph Gourgas and four other Frenchmen for $46 dollars each. This was done under they table by Bideaud to make a little extra money.
In early 1813, Emmanuel De La La Motta, Grand Treasurer of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, was in New York for health reasons and learned of these Scottish Rite Masons. Over the course of a few months, their status was regularized within the Scottish Rite.
The founding six members included the men who would become the first three Sovereign Grand Commanders, Daniel D. Tompkins, Sampson Simson, and John Joseph Gourgas, as well as three others, John Gabriel Tardy, Richard Riker and Moses Levy Maduro Peixotto.
On May 1, 1813, an officer from the Supreme Council at Charleston initiated several New York Masons into the Thirty-third Degree and organized a Supreme Council for the "Northern Masonic District and Jurisdiction". On May 21, 1814 this Supreme Council reopened and proceeded to "nominate, elect, appoint, install and proclaim in due, legal and ample form" the elected officers "as forming the second Grand and Supreme Council...". Finally, the charter of this organization (written January 7, 1815) added, “We think the Ratification ought to be dated 21st day May 5815."
Officially, the Supreme Council, 33°, N.M.J. dates itself from May 15, 1867. This was the date of the "Union of 1867", when it merged with the competing Cerneau Supreme Council in New York, thus forming the current Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States.
Although the conflict between the NMJ and the Cerneau Supreme Council was multifaceted, some scholars argue that a chief difference was that the early version of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction was inclusive of Jewish members, while the Cerneau Supreme Council excluded them.
The headquarters of the NMJ was located in downtown Boston for much of the late 19th and 20th century moving to Lexington, Massachusetts in 1968. In 2013, the headquarters building was sold to the town of Lexington, with the offices of the Sovereign Grand Commander moving into the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library located next door.
Degree structure
Members of the Northern Jurisdiction are required to have achieved the third degree or Master Mason degree in their local lodges before they can apply to join the Scottish Rite. The Northern Jurisdiction offers 29 additional degrees, with a final 33rd degree conferred as an honor for service to the fraternity and society. However, taking these additional degrees does not give one higher "rank" in Masonry. While the higher numbering might imply a hierarchy, the additional degrees are considered "appendant degrees". They represent a lateral movement in Masonic education rather than an upward movement, and are degrees of instruction rather than rank.
In 2004, the Northern Jurisdiction rewrote and reorganized its degrees and further changes occurred in 2006. As of 2023, the degrees offered by the Northern Jurisdiction can be divided into four categories: