FILLMORE, CHARLES AND MYRTLE. Myrtle (Mary Caroline) Page Fillmore (1845–1931) and Charles Sherlock Fillmore (1854–1948), a married couple, were the founders of Unity, the largest and most distinctly Christian movement in the New Thought tradition. They are the most notable students of New Thought's founder, Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925). From its inception, Charles Fillmore was the leader of the movement and the primary force in the development of Unity's theological system and institutional structures. Although less visible than her husband, Myrtle Fillmore was equally important to the emergence and early expansion of the movement, with the healing of her tuberculosis in 1888 precipitating the movement's founding.

Myrtle was born in Pagetown, Ohio, the eighth of nine children. Her parents were prominent members of the local Methodist Episcopal Church. Unity biographical literature describes her as "not robust" and at times "seriously ill," but also "active and enthusiastic...