Beginnings

Most of the thirty-three degrees of the Scottish Rite existed in parts of previous degree systems.^[4] In 1767, the Ineffable Lodge of Perfection had been chartered in Albany, NY, and awarded up to the 25th Degree.^[5] Similar bodies were formed in Philadelphia and Charleston awarding degrees up to the 25th, but all had died out by 1800.^[6]

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 each.^[6] 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.^[7]

Supreme Council Foundation

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."^[8]

The Northern Masonic Jurisdiction had rivals for control of the Scottish Rite in the North, including from the Cerneau Supreme Council. While their dispute 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.^[9]

After the Morgan Affair, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction was inactive from 1832 to 1843,^[10] with "Gourgas and Yates were effectively a Supreme Council of two people, preserving the organization’s records and corresponding with one another about the plight of American Freemasonry." During this period, a number of men gave up their memberships as Freemasons in the face of wider anti-Masonic ostracism.^[11]

Schism of 1860

In 1860, at a meeting of the Supreme Council, the sitting Sovereign Grand Commander, Edward Asa Raymond, "refused to act on a motion, blocked a motion to adjourn, and then declared the Council closed.  The next day, immediately after the opening and the reading of the minutes, he closed the Council 'sine die,'  or indefinitely, and walked out."^[12] Killian Henry Van Rensselaer was elected as Lieutenant Grand Commander in Raymond's absence, who then served as acting Grand Commander.

Raymond would leave the Supreme Council completely, and along with Grand Treasurer Simon W. Robinson, formed their own rival Supreme Council, named after Raymond, which would soon merge with the Hays Cerneau Council. In early 1862, expelled his successor, Killian Henry Van Rensselaer from this new Scottish Rite order.^[13]

A few months later, in May 1862, Raymond was accused of "a spirit of insubordination" and attempting to continue to function as Sovereign Grand Commander despite having been removed from office, and expelled from the original Northern Masonic Jurisdiction.^[14]

The Schism of 1860, which began as an internal leadership dispute ultimately led to two competing Supreme Councils operated in the Northeast until a reconciliation in 1867.^[15]

Officially, the Supreme Council, 33°, N.M.J. dates itself from May 15, 1867, as this was the date of the "Union of 1867", when the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction merged with the competing Hays-Raymond Cerneau Supreme Council^[16] in New York, thus forming the current Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States.^[17][18]

20th and 21st centuries

Originally located in New York, the headquarters of the NMJ was in downtown Boston for much of the late 19th and 20th century.^[19][20] From 1927 to 1968, the offices were located in the Statler Hotel,^[2] moving to Lexington, Massachusetts in 1968.^[19] In 2013, the headquarters building was sold to the town of Lexington,^[21] with the offices of the Sovereign Grand Commander moving into the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library located next door.

In December 2023, Past Sovereign Grand Commander, David Glattly criticized the Supreme Council over internal bickering and financial mismanagement.^[22] In February 2024, Glattly was expelled from the order, initially without explanation. ^[23][24][25] In March 2024, the current Sovereign Grand Commander, Walter F. Wheeler claimed Glattly's explusion was due to ballot fraud, inappropriate employment practices, lack of budgetary control, expense control and excessive spending, failures of corporate governance and a toxic workplace environment under Glattly’s stewardship.^[26]

Philanthropy

Masonic Learning Centers for Children, Inc. which provide tutoring for children with dyslexia in the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction is the primary charity of the Northern Jurisdiction.^[27]

33rd Degree

In the Northern Jurisdiction, there is a 46-month requirement for eligibility to receive the 33rd degree, and while there is both a Meritorious Service Award and a Distinguished Service Award, they are not required as intermediate steps towards the 33°. A recipient of the 33rd Degree is an honorary member of the Supreme Council and is therefore called an "Inspector General Honorary." However, those who are appointed Deputies of the Supreme Council that are later elected to membership on the Supreme Council are then designated "Sovereign Grand Inspectors General."