Mike, I went tripping about the Internet looking for an explanation for the name Franklin Fire-eaters...I took this clip from a website...I think this will shed light to why they were name as such......those with contrary opinions are free to express their thoughts...thanks..Tim In the early 1850s, northerners and southerners alike used the term fire-eater to describe anyone whose views were clearly outside the political mainstream. Eventually, though, the word came to be most closely identified with those southerners who were staunch and unyielding advocates of secession.