Ambrose Steinwand passed on his cheese making art to his son, Joseph F. Steinwand, who perfected a washed-curd process which produced Colby's characteristically mild, pleasant flavor. His process replaces whey with water and reduces acidity.  It takes slightly more than a gallon of milk to produce just 1 pound (454g) of cheese.

Colby, Cheese Champion.
The Town and City which Wrested the Honors From Herkimer County, New York

 

Colby is one of the thriving towns on the line between Clark and Marathon Counties, dividing a glance between them. It has a. population of about 1,000. Formerly the Marathon county half was called Hull and there was a lack of harmony which prevented the best development but a village organization overcame this defect and now Colby presents a united front in the line of progress. It Is near the Big Eau Plaine River one of the Tributaries of the Wisconsin river and was a station On the old Wisconsin Central, now the Soo Line— in the early logging days of 1873 and so was a prominent place before some of the rest of the county was known.

Colby is the Cheese Champion of the world. It was Battling Nelson who gave that title to one of his rivals In the field of fisticuffs but that was in derision, while the championship which ii defended by the city of Colby is an honor and a profit worthy of the best localities In the world. From Herkimer county, New York. was wrested not only the quality of output of flue cheese but the quantity too, and now Colby Cheese Is demanded by the epicures everywhere.

Colby was named after Gardner Colby of Boston of the Colby-Philips Construction. Company who built the railroad for the Wisconsin Central company, of which his son, Charles L. Colby, was president. R now has an electric light and water plant representing an investment of $3,000 and which has been In operation since 1903. There is a good city library. The present officers are James E. Lyone, mayor; John Pribnow, treasurer; R. G. Salter, clerk; Joseph Frane, assessor; H. Reeves, H. A. Krepsky, E. D. Loos, and Ben Riplinger, aldermen; H. L. Blanchard, postmaster.

One of the main features of the town Is Uncle Joel Shafer, who came from Beaver Dam to the then Colby In 1878, or 1888 no one can rightly tell which, and with his brother started a paper and tried to organize a new county embracing part of Clark, Marathon and Taylor counties. The movement after a sharp clash of Interests subsided and left the Shafers stranded in Colby where they have run their paper, The Phonograph, ever since,— until the death of Sam Shafer a number of years ago, and now run by’ Joel Shafer.— well known and highly re spouted throughout the state, the patriarch of newspaper men in Central Wisconsin and the preceptor of many bright young journalists who have made their name famous throughout the world.