Fillmore, Charles

Fillmore, Charles (1854–1948) Protestant religious leader, businessman; born near St. Cloud, Minn. The son of a merchant who traded with Indians, he worked as a clerk and muleteer and speculated in real estate in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas before turning to religious matters in the late 1880s. With his wife Myrtle he launched the Unity movement, based on a practical Christian doctrine they claimed could overcome physical, mental and financial problems. He wrote a series of books explaining the beliefs of Unity; one book, Prosperity, argued that Christianity fostered business success and that the Great Depression was the consequence of negative thinking.