Mary Caroline "Myrtle" Page Fillmore (August 6, 1845 – October 6, 1931) was an American who was co-founder of Unity, a church within the

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a new religious movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy ...

Christian movement, along with her husband Charles Fillmore. Before that she worked as a schoolteacher.

Biography

Myrtle was the seventh child (of eight) of an

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

businessman-farmer. Her parents were strict Methodists, but Myrtle rejected their puritanical teachings. Most of her childhood and into adulthood, she experienced "all the ills of mind and body that I could bear. Medicine and doctors ceased to give me relief and I was in despair," as she says. After struggling with numerous medical ailments for which orthodox medicine (of the day) fell short, she eventually "awoke" to spiritual self-healing which she credited for greatly improving health, including recovery from chronic tuberculosis. Also at a young age she developed a strong enjoyment of reading. At the age of twenty-one she enrolled in the (one year) 'Literary Course for Ladies' at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

. After graduating in 1867, she taught at public schools in Clinton, Missouri and later, Denison, Texas. There, she met her future husband, Charles Fillmore, they married in 1881. Initially residing in Gunnison, Colorado, they moved to

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, where their first two sons were born, Lowell in 1882 and Rickert in 1884. The family then moved to

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

and then

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, where their third son, Royal, was born in 1889. Myrtle became a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

in 1895 for ethical reasons. She converted her husband Charles to vegetarianism.

Introduction to New Thought

After the births of their first two sons, Lowell Page Fillmore and Waldo Rickert Fillmore, the family moved to

. Two years later, in 1886, Charles and Myrtle attended

classes held by Dr. E. B. Weeks. Myrtle subsequently recovered from chronic

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

and attributed her recovery to her use of prayer and other methods learned in Weeks' classes. Subsequently, Charles began to heal from his childhood accident, a development which he too attributed to following this philosophy. Charles Fillmore became a devoted student of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

.''Dictionary of American Biography'', Supplement 4: 1946-1950. American Council of Learned Societies, 1974, reproduced i
Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
accessed September 2009. In 1889, Charles and Myrtle began publication of a new periodical, 'Modern Thought', notable among other things as the first publication to accept for publication the writings of the then 27-year-old New Thought pioneer William Walker Atkinson. In 1890, they announced a prayer group that would later be called 'Silent Unity'. In 1891, Fillmore's 'Unity' magazine was first published. Dr. H. Emilie Cady published 'Lessons in Truth' in the new magazine. This material later was compiled and published in a book by the same name, which served as a seminal work of the Unity Church. Although Charles had no intention of making Unity into a denomination, his students wanted a more organized group. He and his wife were among the first ordained Unity ministers in 1906. Charles and Myrtle Fillmore operated the Unity organizations from a campus near downtown Kansas City.
", Association of Unity Churches, accessed September 2009.

Death

Myrtle Fillmore died in 1931. Charles remarried in 1933 to Cora G. Dedrick who was a collaborator on his later writings.Gale Publishing Group, "Charles Fillmore" in ''Religious Leaders of America'', 2nd ed. Gale Group, 1999. Reproduced i
Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2008.
accessed September 2009. Charles Fillmore died in 1948. Unity continued, growing into a worldwide movement; Unity World Headquarters at Unity Village and Unity Worldwide Ministries are the organizations of the movement.See, e.g., Ferm, Vergilius (ed). ''An Encyclopedia of Religion''; Westport, CT: Greenwood Press (1976; 1st ed. pub. 1945 by Philosophical Library); pg. 805.

Biography

Introduction to New Thought

Death

See also

Notes

References

Further reading