Charles
Fillmore was born in 1854 in a log cabin just outside St. Cloud, MN. His only
formal education was in a one-room log cabin schoolhouse where the school term
was only for the three winter months. At 12, Charles had a skating accident that
left him in constant pain and with one leg withered and dramatically shorter
than the other. During his adolescence, Charles met Caroline Taylor, the wife of
an Army officer, who loved to read and discuss classic literature. Though her,
Charles was introduced to Shakespeare, Tennyson, Emerson, Lowell, and others.
In 1874, at age 19, he left St Cloud and went to Cado, in what is now Oklahoma. From there, he went on to Dennison, TX where he met a young school teacher, Myrtle Page.
Myrtle
Page was born in Ohio and attended Oberlin College. She had taught school in
Clinton Missouri before moving on to Dennison for her health. At age 30, Myrtle
was seriously ill with malaria and tuberculosis and she hoped the warm, dry
climate of Dennison would help. Myrtle and Charles shared many of the same
interests and spent hours discussing literature and philosophy. In 1878, she
returned to Missouri, but kept in correspondence with Charles.
In 1879, Charles left Texas and worked as a mule-team driver in Colorado. Realizing that the boom towns of Colorado held great opportunities, Charles became involved in real estate. In 1881, Charles took a trip to visit Myrtle in Missouri and on March 29th, they were married and returned to Colorado.
In 1884, Charles and Myrtle moved to Kansas City with their two young sons, Lowell Page, born in 1882 and Waldo Rickert, born in 1884. At that time, there was a real estate boom in Kansas City and Charles became very successful. In 1886, Myrtle was suffering with her illness and went to a lecture by E.B. Weeks, a representative of the Illinois Metaphysical College, founded by Emma Curtis Hopkins. As she left the meeting, Myrtle had one of Dr. Weeks' messages resounding in her ears, " I am a child of God and therefore I do not inherit sickness." Myrtle immediately began working to use her mind to heal her body and in less than two years, she had cured herself.
Seeing the remarkable change in his wife, Charles began slowly to accept what his wife had understood instantly. Charles began to study and spend thirty minutes each evening "going into the silence" in order "to go straight to the source." By 1889, his chronic pain had stopped and his withered leg grew stronger. In that same year, a third son, Royal, was born and in April, Charles began publishing the magazine Modern Thought. Modern Thought was a monthly magazine filled with articles by various New Thought authors as well as Charles, himself. Charles and Myrtle used their understanding of Principle to work with many people in ill health. Their abilities to work with Spirit and manifest healing became well-known. They never charged for their services and survived on the free-will, love offerings made by those they helped.
In 1891, as Charles, Myrtle, and a few other students were praying together, Charles flashed on the name Unity and immediately adopted the name for the movement that was developing. The Society of Silent Help (now called Silent Unity) was started in 1890 when Charles and Myrtle began meeting every night at 10 pm with fellow students and using silent prayer to bring about healing and prosperity. Silent Unity now prays with over 1 1/2 million people each year who write or call requesting prayer assistance.
In 1906, the Unity movement moved out of the small offices on McGee street in
Kansas City and into a larger building at 913 Tracy Avenue.
Very quickly, the 913 building became too small and the printing operations were
moved next door to 917 Tracy. Unity also operated a vegetarian restaurant called
the Unity Inn at the corner of Ninth and Tracy.
In 1920, Charles purchased 58 acres near Lees Summit, Mo which would eventually encompass over 1400 acres. Called Unity Farm, it produced fresh fruits and vegetables for the Unity Inn. The Unity Farm was legally incorporated in 1953 as Unity Village and is the home to the Unity Institute, the teaching and publishing branch of the Unity movement. In 1924, Unity bought radio station WOQ and Charles Fillmore's lectures were heard by people as far away as Africa.
The Fillmores printed numerous publications including Wee Wisdom, Christian Business, Unity Magazine and the Daily Word. Hundreds of thousands of copies are given away to people in need of inspiration who cannot afford to pay.