John Baynton (1726-1773) and Samuel Wharton (1732-1800) were partners in a mercantile firm which specialized in the Indian trade.

The company suffered heavily during Pontiac's Uprising, and for several years thereafter Wharton attempted to reimburse these losses by obtaining a grant of land from the Indians. He succeeded at Fort Stanwix in 1768, receiving the cession of a large tract in what is now West Virginia from the Six Nations.

Wharton was sent to England in 1769 to procure royal confirmation for this grant, but he soon was involved in a much larger land speculating venture, the Walpole Company, of which Franklin was also a member.

Franklin and Wharton's relations were very close for several years thereafter. Wharton, an incorrigible land speculator, visited Franklin in Paris to discuss a project to get Congressional recognition for the Vandalia claim (1779).

After 1763 the firm became Baynton, Wharton & Morgan.