Genealogy Question

[Anita]

I was watching a program on a little known chapter of CA history known as the Bear Flag revolt. It told the story of 33 men who on June 14, 1846 rode into Sonoma, ousted the Spanish leadership without firing a shot, created the first Bear Flag and declared CA a Republic, which lasted about a month. What caught my attention is the statement "William L Todd from Il was a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln" and one of the 33 men.

Most sites such as museum http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist6/toddflag.html and numerous newspaper accounts, even a snopes link refer to William L Todd as Mary's nephew.

Question: Was he a nephew, cousin or a Swede from Springfield as one paper reported?

Thanks. I live in CA as you might guess.