What name did she go by? Walter's (her grandnephew) family referred to her as Adala. Helen Mater Manherz (her great granddaughter) called her Becky. Her brother Aaron's obituary lists her as Rebecca. Various census records have her as Rebecca, Adala, and Adala R.

She was born in 1843 although the exact date is uncertain and her death certificate lists 1847 which does not agree with census and other records. According to Helen Manherz, she was born near Myerstown in Lebanon Co. This is consistent with other records. Myerstown is just west of Stouchsberg where her parents, John and Catherine, were married in 1842. And it's just south of Bethel Twp. where the family appears in the 1850 census.

In the census of 1860, when her family resided in East Hanover Twp., Dauphin Co., Rebecca appears as a 16-year-old living with Charles and Ann Rosinberger in West Hanover Twp. In this census her name was spelled Demer. Her brother, John, appears on a Civil War monument in nearby Linglestown with the same spelling.

She married Christian Bucher (born about 1837), a carpenter. He died sometime after 187o.  They had two known children:

Kate, born about 19 Jun 1863, married George Toomey and Charles Jennings

John H., born about 5 Sep 1864.

In the census of 1870 the couple appears in the 4th ward of Harrisburg.

In 1873 Rebecca remarried Martin Swartz (5 Jan 1835 - 27 Apr 1907). By 1910 she was living with her granddaughter., Caloma, daughter of Kate Bucher Jennings and wife of Harrison Mateer, in Penbrook, PA (on the edge of Harrisburg). (Caloma was Kate's daughter.) In the 1910 census she's listed as the mother of 5 children, 2 living. She was still there in 1923 when her brother, Aaron, died. Her son, John was a neighbor.

Rebecca died  13 March 1923 at her home with her granddaughter, Caloma, 2539 Boas St., Penbrook.  She was a member of the Penbrook Evangelical Church, and the Ladies of the Grand Army.  She was buried in the Harrisburg Cemetery.