Editing Scottish Rite (section)

===Estienne Morin===
{{Main article|Etienne Morin}}
A French trader, by the name of Estienne Morin, had been involved in high-degree Masonry in [[Bordeaux]] since 1744 and, in 1747, founded an ''"Écossais"'' lodge (Scottish Lodge) in the city of [[Cap-Haïtien|Le Cap Français]], on the north coast of the French colony of [[Saint-Domingue]], now [[Haiti]]. Over the next decade, high-degree Freemasonry was carried by French men to other cities in the Western hemisphere. The high-degree lodge at Bordeaux warranted or recognized seven Écossais lodges there.

In [[Paris]] in the year 1761, a patent was issued to Estienne Morin, dated 27 August, creating him "Grand Inspector for all parts of the New World". This Patent was signed by officials of the Grand Lodge at Paris and appears to have originally granted him power over the craft lodges only, and not over the high, or "Écossais", degree lodges. Later copies of this Patent appear to have been embellished, probably by Morin, to improve his position over the high-degree lodges in the [[West Indies]].<ref name="JacksonRoseCroix"/>{{rp|31–45}}

Morin returned to the West Indies in 1762 or 1763, to Saint-Domingue. Based on his new Patent, he assumed powers to constitute lodges of all degrees, spreading the high degrees throughout the West Indies and North America. Morin stayed in Saint-Domingue until 1766, when he moved to [[Jamaica]]. At [[Kingston, Jamaica]], in 1770, Morin created a "Grand Chapter" of his new Rite, the Grand Council of Jamaica. Morin died in 1771 and was buried in Kingston.<ref name=Fox1997>{{cite book
|last= Fox|first= William L.|year= 1997|title= Lodge of the Double-Headed Eagle: Two centuries of Scottish Rite Freemasonry in America's Southern Jurisdiction|publisher= Univ. of Arkansas Press.}}</ref><sup>{{rp|16}}</sup>