Born on April 21, 1843 in Sonnenberg as the son of a day laborer, Carl Bender learned the carpentry trade, founded a construction and furniture joinery in 1870 and adopted the serial number "I." to distinguish himself from a second name bearer in his birthplace.

As a talented inventor, Bender developed fruit presses, ice machines for household use, tumble dryers, steerable toboggans and other useful items in the following years, for many of which he was granted a patent. His breakthrough came with his "Capito Automatic Mouse and Rat Trap", which went on sale in the fall of 1889 and made a triumphal march throughout Europe and overseas.

With the expansion of production, the factory in Sonnenberg proved to be too small; Bender therefore acquired a site at Dotzheim station in 1895 to establish a factory here. On July 1, 1896, the new factory was put into operation, employing around 150 people. At the beginning of the 20th century, production amounted to several 100,000 units per year.

After Bender's death on September 26, 1899, his two older sons from his first marriage took over the management of the company together with his second wife. Wilhelm and Philipp Bender improved on their father's inventions and developed new products. After the death of their stepmother, the company was converted into a limited company on April 19, 1916, with the two previous owners and their nephew Georg Hollinghaus acting as managing directors.

After several changes in management, the mousetrap manufacturer Gustav Wilmking took over the company in 1925 and relocated the production of Bender's traps to Gütersloh in 1928. The Dotzheim factory buildings were demolished in the 1930s. The site is still undeveloped.