Watergate prosecutor’s home in Brooksville to be tour site

BROOKSVILLE – Children of the late Archibald Cox, the special Watergate prosecutor who was fired by the Nixon White House in the Saturday Night Massacre of 1973, plan to offer a tour of his home Sunday.

The event is designed to benefit the Brooksville Free Public Library.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cox loved books and they loved Brooksville,” said Jody Gordon Cox, wife of Cox’s son Archie Jr., and the former on-air style editor for NBC’s “Today” show.

“It is with great pleasure that we open their former house to benefit the local library,” she said.

The farmhouse, known as Brookway, overlooks Buck Harbor and has a view of the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge.

As the 35th anniversary of the “massacre” approaches in October, Archie Jr. and Jody Cox say they hope to remember the elder Cox’s legacy through the tour.

Since the deaths of Archibald Sr. and his wife, Phyllis, family members and guests have used the farmhouse, which has had interior changes over the past year, said Jody Cox in a written introduction to the tour. “But there is one thing that remains untouched – the eclectic collection of books throughout the entire house.”

The tour will feature photographs and memorabilia from Cox’s life, including the desk where he wrote several books, including “The Court and the Constitution” in which he gave an account of the days before and after the Saturday Night Massacre.

Jeff Lewis, friend of the family and Emmy Award-winning writer for the television series “Hill Street Blues,” will be at the house, signing his latest fiction release, “Adam the King,” during the tour.

Cox was born in Plainfield, N.J., and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1937. He served on the National Defense Board during World War II before he was appointed to the Office of the Solicitor General.

On Oct. 20, 1973, President Nixon ordered Cox fired because of his insistence on obtaining the secret White House tapes, which ultimately led to Nixon’s resignation.

Cox died in 2004 at age 92 while living at his house in Brooksville.

Reservations for the tour may be made by calling Gail Ladd at 326-4704. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.